


Twilight Omens

by limit_breaker



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Ben Solo corruption arc? kind of?, Firsts, M/M, Pre-TFA, canon-compliant-ish, probably undertagged, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:14:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limit_breaker/pseuds/limit_breaker
Summary: Good things come to those who wait. Other things come to those who don't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I would not say any of the hard Archive warnings apply to this, but it's not entirely wholesome and idealistic, either sooo... don't like, don't read! No flames! as we used to say.
> 
> ... thank you to anyone who listened to me cry about not wanting to write this anymore and/or left feedback, it's for you. <3

* * *

"The bird struggles out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world."  
-Herman Hesse, _Demian_

* * *

“This is Major Armitage Hux reporting from Vailen III, sir. Month seven, week six. Goods and cargo are being moved from the ports to the warehouses with increased efficiency of 13% year-to-date. The power generator's output capacity is holding steady at 8.4. Standard daily operations show no signs of irregularity, if the situation changes I will notify High Command at once. Nothing further to report. End of transmission.” Hux switched off the holorecorder and exhaled, dropping into a chair.

“How much longer are we on this hellscape?” Armitage's bunkmate Haccu Kyyshiv asked, lying face down on his own bed, shirt off.

“Just until the first rains,” he replied, unbuttoning the first few snaps of his tunic. The weather on Vailen III was stifling: hot and humid with long months and merciless days. There were only two distinct seasons, dry and rainy, but both were almost unbearably hot for humans and, indeed, most other sentient life forms. The First Order's crude base was the only settlement here, located on the sole land mass on the otherwise aquatic planet. The only structure sharing the island was the ruins of what was rumored to be some ancient holy site, which for some reason, the First Order had not demolished. As a result of both the intolerable climate and the lack of resources, virtually nothing of interest happened here. Supply shuttles came and went, reports that would never be read were filed, and the days dragged on. Armitage hated it.

His platoon had been ordered to stay until the monsoons began. It had been bearable at first, but as the months dragged on with unchanging monotony, the humidity mounted, clouds not yet heavy enough to burst. Instead the moisture hung thick in the air, stifling the inhabitants below.

He tugged off his boots and lined them up toe-first against the foot of his bed before standing and undoing the rest of his buttons. “It should be any day now,” he said, peeling off his sweat-soaked tunic and carefully hanging it up in the shared closet.

“Fuck, I hope so. I can't wait until this mission is over. At least it's easy work, but I don't even know why we're here.”

Armitage grunted something in acknowledgment, not wanting to be dragged into a pointless conversation. He didn't particularly care for Kyyshiv, finding him sloppy at best, lazy at worst. His lack of form irked him all the more because they shared a bunk.

Kyyshiv had achieved the rank of major as well, but certainly not by hard work or merit; he was the son of parents held in high esteem by High Command, stationed out here on this rock to keep him safe from the perils of battle. Or maybe, Hux reasoned, just because they all knew he was completely useless. It irritated him to think that he had been sent here with people like this. It didn't make sense. Unlike Kyyshiv, he didn't ride the coattails of his parents-- wouldn't have been able to even if he wanted to. He wanted to prove himself, to go beyond what little had been expected from him. He wouldn't be useless.

At the very least, despite having the same rank, Kyyshiv deferred to Hux more often than not and had no trouble following his instructions and staying out of the way otherwise. That and the knowledge that Kyyshiv would never stand in his way as competition were often the only ways Armitage maintained his sanity.

Beyond just that, he was tired of sharing a room with everyone stationed here, no matter how small their platoon was. Most other planetside deployments were equipped with far more modern infrastructure and accommodations with private rooms, or at the very least, single washrooms. He'd worked too hard, achieved marks too high, to deserve being marooned on this remote backwater planet with this tiny squadron of unmotivated underachievers, doing nothing of importance out of sight of anyone who might notice. It was the perfect place to stick someone like Kyyshiv, but Hux knew he himself was destined for more.

Armitage picked up his towel and made his way into the washroom, taking what must have been his third shower of the day. He knew he'd be sweating again the second he shut the water off, but he savored the feel of the cold water against his skin. _A_ _ny day now,_ he told himself. As soon as that first rain fell, he'd be out of this sauna and back on a starship where he belonged.

Walking back into the sleeping area, Armitage hung his towel up on a wall hook and climbed into bed. Not wanting to engage with his roommates, he shut his eyes and imagined being promoted to High Command. He decided that the first thing he would do when--not if-- would be to get rid of Kyyshiv and the rest as soon as possible. When he was in charge, he would have no tolerance for useless slackers like this. High birth would mean nothing.

He feigned sleep until finally it consumed him.

\--

 

The next day began like every other one of his mission thus far: too early, too hot. He showered again and dressed, then left for his shift at the air traffic control tower. Though he knew they were to be working together, he didn't bother waiting for Kyyshiv.

The tower, like much of the infrastructure on this planet, left much to be desired. Constructed with scavenged supplies from before the age of the Empire, the technology was outdated and slow, modern equipment being unable to cope with the dearth of power. It was lucky for the pilots that not much happened here.

Armitage dealt with shifts here, like everywhere else on this forsaken island, with barely-concealed contempt. He hung his cap on a wall hook and sat at the desk, reading over the reports left by the last shift, barely looking up to acknowledge his coworker when he finally showed up, nearly half an hour late.

Thus the first several hours passed without incident, the two scheduled arrivals and departures making easy take offs and landings. They worked mostly in silence, as Armitage preferred, until about halfway through the hottest part of the day when something strange popped up on the radar.

“Hey, Hux, check this out,” Kyyshiv said, staring at his screen. “There's an unidentified shuttled making its approach at 36.354, 56.92. What do you think this is?”

Hux cast his attention to the screens in front of Kyyshiv, looking at the information read out from the radar scanners. He frowned. “It's not affiliated with the First Order.”

“Nor does it match any known vessel of the New Republic,” Kyyshiv noted, a crease forming in his brow.

“Get them on transmitter,” Hux ordered. “Inform them they are in First Order air space and we will not hesitate to take direct militant action.”

“Yes, sir.” Kyyshiv held down the speaker button on his transmitter. “This is Major Haccu Kyyshiv at Tower Control on Vailen III. You are entering restricted airspace. Identify yourself, pilot. Over.”

The outdated radio transmitter crackled with static, cutting off the first half of the pilot's response. “--requesting permission to land. Over.”

“Damn this ancient equipment. You'd think if the First Order gave two shits about this base, they could at least upgrade the technology,” Kyyshiv grumbled before pressing the button down again to reply. “This is Major Haccu Kyyshiv at Tower Control on Vailen III. Can you repeat that? Is your shuttle in distress, pilot? Over.”

“Negative, no distress,” the pilot replied. “We are mere students on a touristic visit to Vailen III, for academic and educational purposes, nothing more. Over.”

Kyyshiv looked at Hux. “Tourists? What the hell?” He mouthed. He pushed the reply button again, “You do not have permission to land here. I repeat: you do not have permission to land here. This planet operates under the jurisdiction of the First Order. Any permission to arrive or depart must be authorized by High Command. Over.”

Hux shook his head, watching the radar screen. The pilot showed no indication of turning his ship around. “Prepare to intercept at the docks," he said to Kyyshiv. He wasn't going to take any chances.

“As far as I am aware," came the pilot's calm reply, "Vailen III is neutral territory. If this has changed since the last galactic summit, proper documentation has not yet been submitted to the New Republic. Over.”

“Can you believe this shit?” Kyyshiv said before replying. “The New Republic has no authority in Outer Rim territories. This space, air and land, falls under the sole jurisdiction of the First Order. If you do not redirect your vessel you will be placed under arrest upon disembarking. Over.”

“Interesting,” the voice said. “Records show that Vailen III is a largely aquatic planet with nothing of interest but the ruins of an ancient Jedi temple. I'm curious to learn what value the First Order sees in such a place. And I'm sure the New Republic would be interested as well.”

Kyyshiv looked up at Hux again, less sure this time. “What do we do?” Hux growled low his throat, shoving Kyyshiv out of the way. Slamming the reply button, he asked, “With whom are you affiliated, pilot? We will not negotiate with those who try to threaten us. Over.”

“There are no threats, officer. I am a Jedi master, unaffiliated with any government or militia. As I said, I come here with my students on a pilgrimage to visit remnants of the ancient Jedi temple located there. We don't want trouble, only unimpeded access for our studies. Over.”

Kyyshiv threw his hands up with a laugh. "Ha! Some fanatic fancies himself a wizard and thinks that pile of rubble is a holy site. I knew they should have just bulldozed that junk when they were building the base here. Who even knew these freaks still practiced that ancient cult nonsense?” He said, looking up at Hux. “What should we do? This is going to be a pain in the ass to get this by High Command.”

A muscle in Armitage's jaw tensed. _Fuck._ As much as he disliked that thinly-veiled threat, he fancied the idea of comming High Command for advice on this lunacy even less. He needed to take care of this on his own. At least this way he could send his own scouts out to meet the incoming travellers, have their vessel and persons searched and monitored. It's not as if there were anything incriminating on this empty rock anyway. And if they caused any trouble while here, that would alter the rules of engagement and sanction the militant action Hux longed to order.

But more than that, there was something in the deep recess of his mind that clung to that word: Jedi. A hazy memory of a conversation long ago. The Force was real, and it was important to the First Order. The Supreme Leader had told him that once, personally. When had that happened?

He hit the button to reply. "Tentative permission granted, pilot. Dock in bay zero-four and prepare to rendezvous with a squad team who will search you for weapons and contraband before you are allowed to disembark. We will discuss the terms of your visit upon arrival. How many of you are there? Over.”

“It is myself and four of my students. Over.”

“Understood. I repeat: dock in bay zero-four. Over.”

“As you wish. Docking in bay zero-four. Over and out.”

Hux shoved the transmitter aside, turning to Kyyshiv. “Have a rendezvous team sent to bay four. Make sure these people are checked. Thoroughly. I want nothing else getting through, and no trouble. If High Command hears of this, both of our asses are the line. _Nothing_ gets through. See to it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hux stood, grabbing his jacket from the hook on the wall, shoving his arms into the sleeves, he reached for his seldom-worn cap.

“Where are you going?”

Hux knew there had to be some reason that temple was not destroyed when the First Order decided to start operations on Vailen III. A lure for Force-sensitives was as good a reason as any. No one came out this far for no reason, and the appearance of Jedi anywhere was such a rare occurrence, there was no way this was insignificant. Hux had to inform Leader Snoke. The Supreme Leader had instructed him to do that once, had given him access to his direct channel if the opportunity ever arose. The fact that he couldn't properly remember when the conversation had happened was not important; Hux was going inform him that he had a whole class of Jedi right where he wanted them.

"To take care of our guests."

Turning on his heel, he left the control tower.

\--

 

“Supreme Leader, this is Major Armitage Hux reporting from the First Order temporary base at Vailen III. I apologize for bypassing typical protocol and contacting you directly, but I believe I have urgent, sensitive information that you will find most interesting,” Hux reported, standing stiff at attention before Snoke's giant holo. Though his heart was beating hard in his chest, he willed himself to maintain a calm and collected demeanor. Supreme Leader had told him to do this, had given him his personal access code. It disturbed him that he couldn't quite remember that encounter, but that didn't matter now; he was already here, just as he'd said he would be.

“Go on,” Snoke said, looking down at him.

Hux nodded. “As we speak, a shuttle carrying a purported Jedi master and four of his students is docking at our base. The master reports he is here to bring his students to the ruins of the Vailenian Jedi Temple.”

Snoke appeared to take interest in this. “Good,” he said, his hollow eyes gleaming. “It is time. Events are proceeding as I have foreseen.”

Hux swallowed. He knew Snoke had certain mystic powers, but it was unnerving to hear that this information had been expected yet not relayed. Regardless, he took a deep breath and continued. “Supreme Leader. If you authorize it, I can have these travellers arrested and detaine--”

“No,” Snoke interrupted, returning his had-been-distracted attention back on Hux. “No. Do not impede them. On the contrary, you are to be their accommodating host. Ensure that they have everything they require for the duration of their stay.”

“I--” Armitage looked up at Snoke with barely-masked confusion. “I don't understand--”

“You don't need to, Major. The Force is at work here. Let the Jedi and his students have free reign of their temple. I have sensed that it will be important in some way that has yet to be revealed.”

“I-- yes, Supreme Leader,” Hux was burning with further questions, but let them lie. “Should I inform High Command of their presence?”

“No. This is something I have under control. See that the rest of the base leaves them to study in peace. Let this play out as the Force wills it to.”

Hux couldn't help but feel disappointed. What could have been the most significant event in his deployment, let alone his entire career, was being turned into nothing more than a command, from the ultimate authority, for him to play host to people he had no desire to engage with. He'd wanted acknowledgment for vigilance and a job well done, not this. Still, he met the Supreme Leader's gaze and replied, “Yes, sir.”

As if sensing these thoughts, Snoke said, “You made the right decision, Major, in relaying this information to me directly. Your loyalty will be rewarded in due time, I assure you.”

A surge of pride, _relief_ , swelled in his chest at last. “I act under your wisdom and command, Supreme Leader," he said.

“Go,” said Snoke before his holo faded. “Meet them at the docks. See that they are attended to properly. We will be in touch again, Major.”

Hux waited until he was sure the image was completely gone before allowing himself to exhale.

\--

 

Hux marched himself down to the docks, confidence buoying his stride and eclipsing his annoyance at having to play host to these strangers. In spite of himself, he couldn't deny that at very least he was looking forward to something of a change up after months on end of tedious drudgery.

He arrived as his inspectors were finishing up with their sweep of the shuttle. One was speaking with a bearded man in tan robes who Armitage assumed to be the so-called master. Four younglings, probably teenagers, stood calmly behind him, not speaking. The lieutenants spotted Hux and came to attention. “Sir. All clear, sir.”

Hux nodded to them and turned to face the bearded man. “Major Armitage Hux,” he said, extending his hand to the stranger. “Welcome to Vailen III.”

“Greetings, Major Hux,” said the man, taking his hand. “I appreciate you allowing us to dock.”

“Not a problem.” Armitage noted the deliberate exemption of this stranger's name but chose not to remark on it, trusting Snoke's plans. “I apologize for our initial... reluctance. Surely you must know that we don't get many visitors this far out. We lack proper protocol for such instances. This is merely a base for our interplanetary trade operations, not of particular interest to tourists.”

“Perhaps not for those who can't feel the Force.”

A muscle in Armitage's jaw slid but he did not comment, instead straightening and forcing himself to smile.

“There are many whispers about the First Order, but I assure you: our trip here has nothing to do with para-governmental operations. We are here solely as students of the Force.”

“The First Order has nothing to hide. As I said, this base simply facilitates interplanetary trade. Our presence here ensures Outer Rim worlds are taken care of where the Republic's attentions have been known to... falter.”

“Of course,” replied the man. “And as I said: I do not concern myself with political matters. I am only here to bring my students to meditate at the remnants of one of the last Jedi temples.”

“Of course,” Armitage said, mimicking the man's tone. “A few administrative matters, so that we may provide you with appropriate service, then.”

“As you wish.”

Hux picked up a portable datapad and began typing. “How long is your expected duration of stay?”

“Our total visit should not exceed one week.”

He bristled on the inside. “Are you aware that one galactic standard week is nine sun cycles on Vailen III?”

“I am.”

Playing host was not remotely within his realm of experience, and especially not for an entire week, but didn't let it show. “Acceptable. Do you have any minors in your travelling party?”

“No, the youngest of my students is 19 years of age.”

Hux nodded. “And will you be requiring accommodation during this visit?”

“That won't be necessary,” he replied. “We have accommodations and provisions aboard our shuttle.”

“As you wish,” said Hux. “And one last thing; are you carrying weapons?”

“Only my lightsaber.”

“If you wouldn't mind,” Hux said, “allow us to hold it at customs for the duration of your visit. I'm sure you understand.”

“Of course,” the man said, unclipping the saber from his belt.

One of the students stepped forward suddenly, grabbing his master's arm and giving him a questioning look. The man held up a hand. “Ben, please.”

The boy was reluctant to relent. Hux looked from teacher to student. A sharp jawline and over-large features defined the boy's face. He snapped his attention to Hux and scowled. His master motioned him aside and looked back at Hux.

“As a token of good faith, Major.”

“Good faith.” Hux repeated, taking the lightsaber from the man's outstretched hand. “I will keep it here under lock and key. I am the only one with access to these lockers. You have my word, it will remain safe until your departure.”

The man wore a serene smile as he nodded to the Major. The boy beside him sulked and Hux elected to ignore him.

“The temple is not far from the docks. My students and I will endeavor to stay out of your way as we explore the area. I assure you, Major, our visit will not go beyond one week.”

“By all means, make yourselves at home. On behalf of the First Order, if there is anything we can do to make your visit here more pleasant, do not hesitate to let us know. Please feel free to make use of our facilities, as meager as they may be, they are at your disposal.”

“I appreciate your hospitality, Major. You'll hardly notice we are here.”

“Well,” Hux said with a forced smile, “don't be a stranger.”

The Jedi master inclined his head and walked off with his students trailing behind him, the outspoken one continuing to stare down Hux as he passed.

“Should we follow them, Major?” A fresh-faced lieutenant asked him once the Force-users were out of earshot.

“No.”

“Sir?”

“I said no,” Hux repeated. “This is something I have under control.”

\--

 

Finally, the sun was descending below the watery horizon. His shift was over. Word had gotten around about the five mysterious visitors, as had Hux's explicit order to leave them be. Armitage trusted Snoke's assurance that things would proceed according to plan, but couldn't help to wonder what in the hell that plan actually was. Oh well. It wasn't his job to question it. Not yet. He stood and wiped sweat from his brow, nodding to the crew members coming in to relieve him and Kyyshiv of duty.

On his way back to the dormitories, he let his curiosity get the better of him and detoured in the direction of the ruins, telling himself observing from a distance was simply smart leadership. Approaching slowly, he caught sight of three figures outside practicing levitating objects with the Force. He stayed back a ways, half-hidden by the descending twilight and drew his cigarra case from his back pocket. He leaned himself up against a crumbling slab as he lit a cigarra and inhaled, pretending like he wasn't spying on these younglings.

He'd grown up hearing legends of the Force, the Jedi and the Sith, but seeing these powers being used in front of his own eyes was different. It made it real. Seeing was believing. Now he couldn't deny that there really were living beings with the ability to manipulate some sort of cosmic energy to their will. It made him envious. The Force was lost on him entirely, and he resented it. To see this power in action and know he could never tap into it himself burned him.

Now feeling bitter and petty, he dragged on the cigarra. He may never wield such magic himself, but there were other ways to get power and he would have them. Sure, being a vessel of this power was an attractive curiosity, but the ability to _order_ someone to use that unstoppable power on his behalf was even more attractive. If he could get one of these Jedi to wield their strength on his command, for him...

He began to imagine how he might make such a thing happen. He could try simply asking-- it rarely hurt to start with diplomacy, and against someone who could move things with their mind, threats would not end well. But if they were not keen to join the First Order's cause, perhaps there were other ways to sway their telepathic minds.

He allowed himself to fantasize about how he'd casually stroll up to any one of these students and invite them for drinks after his shift one night. Perhaps he'd ask the shorter one with dark hair practicing her fencing strikes, or maybe the slightly stockier androgynous one with the serious face. It doesn't matter; in his fantasy he has his pick of any of them, they're all very impressed by how quickly he's risen in his ranks-- he's General now. Whomever he chooses, they can easily hold their own in conversation. They willingly answer all of his questions about using the Force and deliver him intelligence on his enemies, offering to strike down any challengers. After a few drinks and darkened whispers, they'll enthusiastically agree to come back to his quarters. Or perhaps, with a hand slowly travelling up his thigh, they were the one to suggest it in the first place.

Of course, in his imagined scenario he'd be off of this nightmare of a planet by then, out of this sweatbox and out of these shared dormitories with their public washrooms, into a place where he would have some actual privacy. Here in the secluded confines of his senior officer's rooms, he'll be able to take his time getting to know the Force, and Force-user, of course, unlocking the secrets of not only their body, but also their elusive powers, now all for him.

He shifted his position on the wall, taking another long drag of his burning-out cigarra. It'd always been this way for him: sex and power. His groin had tightened just imagining this completely self-indulgent scenario. Fuck, he'd been stuck on this planet for far too long. Isolated, yet always in company. The worst of both worlds. It was no wonder he was already uncomfortably half-hard.

A sudden shuffling noise behind him broke his concentration, he barely managed not to jump, playing his flinch off as an excuse to ash his cigarra. He looked behind him to see one of the students, the same one who'd tried to stop his master from handing over his weapon when they'd first arrived, standing up from the floor. Ben? Was that what he'd been called?

“Ah, I didn't see you there,” Armitage said, annoyed at having been not only interrupted, but also startled. He shifted to hide the undignified bulge in his pants, thankful that it was dark now. “Why aren't you over there practicing with your peers?”

“I was meditating,” the padawan snapped. “But your thoughts were so loud I couldn't concentrate.”

“ _Excuse_ me?”

“Your thoughts,” he repeated, “are very loud. And, frankly, obscene. Things like that are against the Jedi Code.”

The faintest hint of shock managed to break through Armitage's tight defense. He was outraged by the invasion of privacy, not even allowed to have freedom within his own head, but he refused to show embarrassment. Doing so would have only proved that he had done something to be ashamed of, which he hadn't. He quickly corrected it, schooling his face into a neutral expression. “What would you know of obscene, then?” He sneered. “Or are you exempt from this Code?”

It wasn't until the boy shook his head that Armitage noticed how big his ears were, half-hidden by the dark hair curtaining his mole-flecked skin. “Of course not," he huffed. "I was reading it off of you. You're disgusting. You can't seduce a Jedi. The fact that you even think you have a chance is as ridiculous as it is offensive.”

Hux's lips curled into a dangerous smile. “Is that so?”

The boy glared at him silently.

“Well.” Hux began, “Ben, was it?” The padawan nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I have somewhat of a reputation for getting what I want, Ben. I've been known to be rather ambitious.”

“You think people can't say no to you?”

Hux laughed low in his chest. “I'm saying they don't _want_ to.”

Ben scoffed. “A military brat like you doesn't stand a chance. You think you're someone special because you hold rank, but that doesn't mean anything to people like us. We don't have any use for your power.”

“Don't be simple. Everyone has use for power, even you.”

Speaking quietly, Ben lowered his voice. “You misunderstand. I have use for power, I just don't have use for _yours._ I already have more power than you'll ever dream of.”

Hux trailed his eyes over the braid in Ben's hair, then cut back to his face, his upper lip curling. He knew he was under direct order to behave hospitably to his guests but this one... this one needed to be put in his place. He wouldn't stand for it. “Then maybe you ought to be out putting that power to actual use rather than sitting here spying in on my private thoughts like a filthy little pervert.”

Ben looked scandalized. “You're the one projecting your stupid fantasies out to the world!” He snapped, taking a step to bridge the distance between them, looming over the Major. “You want to see what I can do?” Hux refused to be cowed, maintaining unbroken eye contact with the boy who was now standing an infuriating couple of inches over him.

Ben raised his hand and plucked the cigarra from between Armitage's lips without touching it. He drew his hand back and the cigarra followed as if pulled by an invisible cord. Swooping his hand beneath the levitating stick, he clenched his fist and the cigarra burst into flames. The fireball hovered midair, heat licking at Armitage's skin. He was careful not to flinch, not to show any reaction to this outburst, even if it meant getting singed. Ben let it linger there for a moment before thrusting his hand out, casting the fireball like a projectile missile into a nearby pile of boulders. A darkened char stained the rocks in its wake, the smell of gunpowder thick in the air. Ben smiled. “My powers already eclipse any of theirs.”

Hux narrowed his eyes and leaned in close. “Yes,” he said coolly. “It's self-control you seem to lack, isn't it?”

Ben worked his jaw, fighting to restrain himself lest he prove that true.

Armitage smirked at him, still not breaking eye contact as he withdrew another cigarra and lit it. "Keep up the good work, Jedi," he sneered, brushing past Ben and heading back towards the dormitories, now very glad for the cover of darkness.

\--

 

Armitage replayed the encounter in his head all the next day. It wasn't, he assured himself, that he'd been impressed by Ben's tricks, but rather he recognized it as a glimpse of potential that could be developed over time. No one was going to cower in fear of a combusting cigarra, but Armitage knew there were other powers that, at full strength, could intimidate adversaries and bring enemies to their knees. Powers that he was still determined to learn to command. One way or another.

That night after his shift, he went down to the docking bay to check up on his guests. He had planned to offer the Jedi master a guided tour of the First Order facilities. On the off-chance that he was a Republic spy, a quick look around the modest base here would quickly snuff out any suspicions he might have had. He didn't have to know about the rapidly-growing starfleet deeper in the Unknown Regions, their steadily amassing arsenal, or the network of training Academies like the one Hux had come from, of course.

However, when he arrived at the dock, the Jedi master was not present. Neither was Ben. Hux was moderately disappointed to learn that the master would be spending the entire time here in meditation at the temple, not to be disturbed. The three other students suggested that Ben was likely off meditating as well, but their uncertain indifference to this gave Hux the impression that Ben was prone to wandering off unannounced. Great.

It suited his current purposes, however, because this gave him a chance to talk to the other three, to see what else they could do with the Force and how he could use it to his advantage. As his attempts at conversation continued to fall flat, however, he quickly found that these students were very different than their wandering loose cannon. They seemed to look beyond him when they spoke and any questions he posed regarding the Force or their purpose in studying it were met with cryptic non-answers and mindless dogma such as, “there is no self, there is only the Force” or “the Force is not for us to manipulate; it is for us to feel, to sense, and to rely on to bring peace to the galaxy.” Banthashit. He was quickly losing interest in this game he had dreamt up for himself. His military training had raised him to give and expect answers to questions, not philosophic musings. He didn't have the patience for this.

All of this power he'd always heard of, the small taste of it he'd gotten last night, and yet these students had no grander aspirations, wouldn't even acknowledge the strength and power inherent in the Force. There was nothing alluring to him about a person without ambition. For all they were doing, their powers would have been better utilized in his convictionless bunkmate.

Hux wasn't going to waste any more of his time on people like this.

While he himself was destined for greatness; these people were destined to be forgotten, to blend into history's obscurity, to fade back into an indiscernible part of the Force energy they so dearly tried to pretend wasn't there to be weaponized. Peacekeepers. Ha.

Most infuriating of all was knowing that Ben had been right about how this would go. It was insufferable. Politely as he could manage, Armitage dismissed himself from a pointless, circular conversation with one of the apprentices and left, walking up the wooden deck back towards the base in disgust.

As he passed by the ruins of the temple he paused, wondering what the point of it all was. Why bother coming all this way to study power that you refuse to use? It was stupid. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Ben walking towards him.

“How is your little quest going, Major,” he said, overly smug as he approached. “Are you as compelling as you thought?”

Armitage took out a cigarra and lit it, taking a drag before deigning to respond. “I've decided I have no use for your kind after all,” he said, exhaling. “Too plain, too boring.”

Ben scoffed. “The ability to move things without touching them, to shuffle minds like a deck of cards, this is too boring for you?”

Hux snorted. “Having the ability to do such things may be intriguing, but with no ambition behind it, what's the bloody point?”

Ben regarded him with an indiscernible look. “What do you mean?”

“You Jedi types. You can manipulate objects and people through this invisible energy, but for what purpose? If the Force were really used to its full potential, the Jedi's will would be unstoppable.”

"But that's not the mandate of a Jedi," Ben said.

"No, clearly not." It wasn't the first time Armitage had heard this argument tonight.

"What would _you_ do, then?" Ben leaned up against the charred boulder, still eyeing him cautiously.

Armitage took a long inhale. “Anything I wanted, I suppose,” he said, earning him a glare. “But I'd start by fixing this mess of a galaxy.”

“And how would you do that?”

“Certainly not by sitting around on some isolated planet meditating on wishful thinking, that's for sure. Your inaction lets the galaxy rot and descend into further chaos.” He paused to blow smoke from the corners of his lips. “I'd formulate strategies, make moves. Telepathy, telekinesis. Surely someone able to do the things your kind can could bring the fragmented systems under a stable, predictable rule of order.”

He hadn't intended to put a rising intonation at the end of his sentence, turning it into more of a question, as if asking Ben to dare refute the power inherent in the Force, but when Ben shrugged and said “Maybe.” He had to hide a satisfied smirk behind his cigarra.

“Well. All it takes is the right direction.”

Ben licked his lower lip. Armitage watched the boy's face change as he mulled over what had been said, his dark eyes studying Hux carefully. “I... don't entirely disagree.”

Armitage raised an eyebrow at him but he cut his eyes away. “Somehow I sense your master would.”

“He...” Ben swallowed, set his jaw before continuing. “doesn't know everything.”

This piqued Hux's interest-- this, this was the kind of thing he had patience for. “Well,” He laughed lightly under his breath. “Perhaps you ought to follow someone who does.”

Ben gave him a hard stare, as if trying to decipher the meaning behind Hux's words. Hux only smirked, stubbing out the remnants of his cigarra on the already-burned slab behind Ben.

He felt Ben's eyes following him as he walked off towards the dormitories.

It was gratifying.

==


	2. Chapter 2

==

 

The next day Armitage woke and prepared for his shift at the warehouses. It was his least favorite duty, being largely physical labor and having little-to-no relevance to his grander career goals, but he didn't mind the solitary nature of it, especially given that his mind had gone back to obsessing over the idea of claiming a Force-users power for himself.

 _What would_ you _do, then?_

_Anything I wanted._

By daylight he cringed, considering that perhaps it had been a rather trite and moronic thing to say. But, really, had he been completely honest, his answer would have probably been something more along the lines of: _I would bring this entire fucking galaxy to bow before me, and it would thank me for the opportunity._ He laughed to himself, wondering what Ben would have made of that, then wondered if perhaps he could sense those thoughts the way he'd sensed others before and became newly frustrated at this entire cosmic situation.

He sighed inwardly. It was entirely unfair, downright offensive, that such power was so misappropriated to people who didn't know how to use it. Those apprentices were wasting their talents, bound by rules that were only placed there as limitations. But who made those rules? And if a Force user overstepped their boundaries, who would stop them? Hux wanted to be the answers to those questions. Was that really so wrong?

He knew Snoke had instructed him to not impede the travellers, but he couldn't help but to imagine wandering back to the docks tonight to attempt another conversation with the apprentices, to politely suggest that their powers could be put to better use serving the First Order. Hell, if he thought about it long enough, he could almost convince himself that he was doing it for Snoke and not himself. He would suffer through tedious abstract metaphysical discussions for the sake of the Order, sure. He'd always received high commendations for his abilities as a persuasive debater, this was just another test. And even if the other three students wouldn't indulge him, surely surly Ben would have some snide remark to make, and that's all it would take for Hux to get an in.

Actually, no, fuck it, he decided; he wouldn't waste his time with the other three: Ben had what he wanted and had proven it through demonstration. His personality might be disagreeable, but at least he was open to entertaining alternative solutions, and he had said something so curious last night, had given Hux something to work with already. It made him wonder how well he could work with Ben in other contexts.

He wiped his brow before bending down to pick up the last crate of supplies left to shelve. Preparing himself to struggle with it, he ended up overcompensating and almost fell backwards upon lifting, finding it incredibly light. He quickly corrected his overbalance and slid it onto the shelf. Confused, he opened the crate, frowning when it was full of heavy metal parts. How had that happened?

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something move. He spun around quickly. Some _one._ Squinting, he tried to get a better look. Once he did, he rolled his eyes. The wanderer.

“I see you lurking there, Ben,” he called, annoyed.

Ben hesitated only a moment before coming out of the shadows and approaching him. “And I see you haven't given up your delusional fantasies of power like this,” he said with a stupid grin, splaying his hands.

Armitage grit his teeth, refusing to show embarrassment. "Need I remind you that you are a visitor on this base and unauthorized snooping around, either on First Order property or in my head, is most unwelcome?"

"Maybe you should put up a better mental defense then."

Armitage frowned. What an irritating person. He readjusted his earlier mental note regarding his ability to work with Ben: unlikely.

"I can teach you how, you know," Ben chewed at his lip, staring at Armitage. "You don't need to be Force sensitive for that."

"Will it keep you out of my head?"

Ben shrugged. "With practice, it will make your mind harder for a Force user to get into. You'll also be able to recognize when someone is prying. It would be good for you to see what it feels like, so you can tell if you're being manipulated.” He said, adopting an authoritative tone that Armitage found grating. “Weak-willed people are easily manipulated by simple mind tricks."

Something in that struck a red hot chord within him, his heart suddenly racing and bubbling with fury, and he straightened at once. "I am not weak-willed." He said icily.

Ben looked affronted by Hux's sudden anger. "I... didn't say you were? I wouldn't even bother helping you if I thought that were the case."

Armitage stared him down. He wasn't even entirely sure what prompted that sudden burst of rage, but he continued to eye Ben warily, considering his options. He remained suspicious, but also curious. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" He asked quietly.

Ben blinked at him, mouth faltering. Armitage realized then that he didn't need to be a telepath to read Ben; everything was written plain on his face-- it was a genuine offer. He hadn't even considered that Armitage might say no to this.

He saw the strange, misguided innocence in Ben's dark eyes and swallowed as his curiosity got the better of him. "Fine, but let's do this outside. Follow me."

Ben nodded and followed him outside, down to the decommissioned pier, far from where their shuttle was docked. This was probably the only place on the entire planet that Armitage didn't flat-out hate, just out of eyesight of the general population, where the shade from the seawall and towering foliage offered some protection from the merciless sun as it went down on the other side of the island. Since the new docks had been opened, few came down here, and it offered a small amount of seclusion he got nowhere else.

As Ben sat himself down crosslegged on the wooden deck and waited for him to do the same, Armitage hesitated, scanning the surroundings first. He was stalling, and he knew it, but he was still wary about this. He took a deep breath and told himself to get the fuck over it, pushing up his sleeves and plunking himself down in front of the padawan.

Ben scooted a bit closer so he could reach for Armitage's temples, his eyes fluttering shut and Hux swatted his hands away instantly. “What do you think you're doing?”

Ben opened his eyes and frowned. "I'm trying to teach you, jackass. How do you think this is going to work?"

"Well you can start by telling me what the hell you're going to do."

Ben sighed and sat up straighter. "I'm going to teach you how to sense a Force user's presence in your head. I'll start by showing you what it feels like."

"And you have to be in my head to do that?"

"Well, yes, obviously," Ben said, annoyed. "You need to open your mind to me if you want to learn anything. But, worry not, I'm not going to go prying into your thoughts. That's verging on dark powers."

"It hasn't stopped you before though, has it?" Hux snapped. He wasn't sure why, but he was suddenly feeling very nervous, which always made him react defensively.

Ben glowered. "If you don't want my help, we're done here." Armitage said nothing and made no move to leave, so Ben rolled his shoulders and continued. "Besides, like I said before, you were projecting your thoughts then. Most people do, unconsciously, because they aren't expecting anyone else to be able to hear them. I can teach you how to put up mental barriers to prevent that from happening."

"Why? What are you getting out of this?"

Ben's eyebrows knitted again, the faintest hint of pink coloring his cheeks. His throat bobbed as he swallowed and looked away, shrugging. “Bored, I guess. It's boring here.”

The corner of Armitage's mouth twitched and he swallowed in kind. Here was this boy, willing to offer him a peek into the Force, and hadn't he just been dreaming of such a thing? There was no reason for him to be hesitating now, he should be throwing himself into this endeavor to learn as much as he could while the opportunity presented itself. But he was feeling reserved now. Why? Surely he wasn't afraid of this blushing teenager sitting crosslegged before him, worrying his lower lip and fidgeting with his fingers.

He shifted a bit, straightening his posture. He willed himself to relax, to try to accept that someone was trying to help him with no darker motives. It wasn't an idea he was accustom to. But he knew he would get nowhere without taking risks, so here went nothing. "Nevermind. I have nothing to hide from you. Proceed."

It was true; he had made no secret of his desire for power and control, and Ben had already caught him mid-fantasy before, so what more could he see? Armitage had been on this backwater rock for far too long to have any classified knowledge of sensitive First Order information anyway. Anything he had in mind was likely already obsolete, so if Ben was planning on siphoning First Order secrets from him, all the better.

Ben looked at him again in trepidation, questioning without speaking. Armitage nodded only once. _Bored._ That was understandable anyway.

Ben's eyes fell shut and he tentatively extended his hands again. Armitage waited to feel something besides awkward.

"There," Ben mumbled, eyes still closed, fingers hovering just centimeters away from Armitage's temples. "Can you feel it?"

Armitage concentrated. There, there it was: a distant warmth, faint but present, buzzing in the center of his mind. It wasn't painful, nor uncomfortable, but perhaps the fact that it wasn't disturbed him more. A small gasp escaped his lips, he let his eyes shut. "Yes."

"Good. You can commit this sensation to memory, so you'll recognize the feeling if anyone tries to pry into your head.” Armitage took a second to process that advice, trying not to feel concerned. “From this level I can read your active thoughts, but if I wanted to get information from you, or alter your memories, I would have to prod deeper, and that, you would definitely feel."

"Try me. Guess my homeworld."

"Arkanis. I didn't have to guess, you started projecting it as soon as you'd asked the question," he said, laughing. "Try again. Hide something and I'll try to find it."

Armitage frowned, opening his eyes and considering punching him right in his crooked teeth. "How am I supposed to hide information when you're already in my head?"

"Well, to start with: simply imagine a wall. People will do this instinctively when they learn someone is trying to get into their heads. They build walls around their most precious memories to protect them. It can be effective, but for someone strong in the Force who really wants that information, even the hardest defenses will fall. And it will hurt the harder you try to resist."

"Hurt? In what way?"

"I can show you."

Armitage ignored the flare of apprehension shooting through him and told himself that he wasn't afraid of this. "Tell me what ship I first served on."

The warm hum in his mind expand, sliding from one indeterminate end to another, not hurting quite yet. This time, as per Ben's advice, he'd thrown up walls around the name he wanted to keep hidden, but almost instantly, he felt the warmth start to heat those walls and he flinched.

"It's okay, I see the walls. I'm just testing your defenses," Ben said. "If it's too much, let me know and I'll relent."

"No," Armitage said through grit teeth, not knowing which part he was saying no to. He wanted to know what he felt like, how much he could stand. He struggled against the pressure mounting in his head. It had started to hurt, but he refused to give in that easily. He pushed, and Ben pushed back. He fought against the unseen strength, trying to reinforce the walls he'd built, but they were burning down, ablaze much like that cigarra Ben had taken from him the earlier night. It was too hot, too much, and he didn't know how to stop it. With a shuddering exhale, he conceded defeat and let Ben take the name.

"The _Ultimatum_ ," Ben said, opening his eyes. He leaned back with a triumphant smile. "That was pretty good. You learn quickly."

Armitage wiped the sweat from his face and neck, the pressure in his head receding and cooling as quickly as it had started. He hadn't realized how fast his heartbeat had become until now. "Yes, well. You still found it," his voice came out ragged and breathy. How embarrassing.

Ben shrugged. “Don't be disappointed, it was your first time.”

Armitage rolled his eyes. He didn't like not taking to things naturally and had very little patience for Ben's way of teaching without prior tactical instructions.

"Do you want to try again?" Ben asked. "Hiding something, I mean?"

"I think I'll pass."

Ben frowned at him, looking worried for some reason. "Did I... hurt you?"

"What? No," he shook his head at the inane question. What kind of person asked something like that? "I mean, yes, it was uncomfortable, but it was nothing I wasn't allowing you to do. Besides, I'm fine now."

Ben seemed reassured by the answer, though no more satisfied. He scratched the back of his neck. "There is another way," he said. "Another way to hide your thoughts. It's much harder to master, but far more effective."

"Enlighten me."

"By not thinking at all. Blank out your mind completely, letting go of all preconceptions of importance. Walls indicate something to hide, which won't keep out someone with dark intentions, but treating every thought and memory with the same amount of indifference makes one thing virtually indistinguishable from the next."

"Hmm," Armitage considered. He wasn't sure how well he could simply stop thinking about things, nor how well he could assume indifference about the things he thought about. Collected was not the same as indifferent.

"If you want, I'll ask a question this time so you have time to blank out your mind."

Armitage frowned.

"Come on," Ben goaded, smacking him playfully on the leg. "Try. What have you got to lose? Unless you're scared, of course." That stupid cock-sure grin.

Armitage narrowed his eyes. He wasn't scared. Apprehensive, maybe, but not scared. "Certainly not." He would become the station master of his various trains of thoughts, or burn down trying. "Proceed."

Ben smiled, reaching out for Armitage's temples again, scooting closer yet, only a hair's distance between their knees. "I'll look for information about your family, if that's all right?"

"Fine," Armitage said, gritting his teeth. His family history was practically common knowledge anyway, and he had no secrets to hide. He was long past worrying about those. He belonged to the Order now; all else was unimportant. His father had told him as much when he thrust him into the Academy training program as a child, telling him to make his own way or be destroyed in the process. The time for coddling was over.

He let his eyes close when he felt that harmless buzz in his mind. Armitage tried not to think of his family. They weren't important. It was not as easy as it had sounded.

The warmth pressed harder on the hazy edges of his mind, but he tried not to focus on it, or anything else. He felt the sweat dripping down his neck and ignored it. He could smell the salty sea air and let it go. His left leg was aching from sitting in this position-- he noticed it and dropped the thought from his mind. Various spots of his consciousness seemed to warm and cool as Ben rifled through his brain, not yet inflicting pain. He tried not to think about it.

"Hmm," he heard Ben hum after a few moments of searching. "Well, you have a small family, too, I can sense that right away. But you also seem to think of the Order as your family, which makes this a bit complicated."

Armitage grimaced, but worked to remain neutral. The Order was his family. He belonged to no one else. What his father achieved was of no consequence to him; he would not be hidden by his father's shadow, nor defined by his transgressions. He'd worked too hard to be relegated to that.

"Your father has the same color hair as you," Ben said, locking in the stray thought that had gotten dislodged at the mention of the Order. Once he'd dug that fact up, it wasn't long before he'd followed that thread to come up with his father's name and title, too. Armitage frowned, the walls he'd hastily tried to imagine broken down before they had a chance to solidify. "Commandant Brendol Hux. Served in the Clone Wars. Seems like a rather ruthless man. Efficient, though."

Armitage started to fight back against Ben now, annoyed at having lost again, and suddenly extremely opposed to the idea of Ben poking around in his memories of his father. But, as before, the harder he resisted, the worse the pressure became.

"Hey, hey, okay, I'll leave that alone. Indifference, remember?" Ben withdrew his hands and Armitage opened his eyes. The corners had gotten wet and he tried to blink away the evidence, telling himself it was just the pressure in his mind, nothing else. He hated that Ben was looking at him with some weird expression of guilt. Or worse, pity.

Ben folded his hands back in his lap, averting his eyes, his mouth twitching. "I don't get along all that well with my father, either," he said softly. “I haven't really seen him in years.” An offering.

Hux didn't need his sympathy. "Forget it," he snapped.

Ben chewed the inside of his cheek, looking as if Hux had just struck him. “We can stop, if you want?”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he considered the question. The idea of opening up his mind made him feel vulnerable, which made him feel defensive, again. He already hated the fact that someone like Ben could teach him anything, and definitely resented having to open himself up to learn it. He wanted to take what he wanted, not have to wait to be given it. But that wasn't how this worked, was it? Repressing the bubble of indignation welling in his chest, he straightened up again.

"No. Let's see what you can find out about my mother."

This would be interesting, given that he couldn't remember his mother, not even her name. He knew he had been taken from her as a child at a time when nothing made sense, but any further questions about her had gone unanswered. At best. It didn't matter. He scolded himself for even getting back onto that line of thinking.

Armitage took a steadying breath, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Okay."

Again he felt Ben's Force tendrils sneaking their way through the ripples of his mind, looking for information. He felt that warm pressure snag on another stray thought of his father and zero in, but carefully this time. Armitage tried to let go of it, to treat it indifferently. It wasn't important. Suddenly, he had a better idea and altered his focus.

"Maratelle?" Ben said: the name of Brendol Hux's wife. Armitage felt the pressure withdrawing from his mind and he opened his eyes to see Ben sit back looking uncertain.

"Wrong," Hux grinned. Finally, an advantage to all of this-- a way to beat Ben at his own stupid game. Small consolation, but he would take it now. "She wasn't my mother."

Ben furrowed his brow. "You're lying."

"Try me," Armitage said, pointing to his head. "You'll see that I'm not."

Ben blinked. His face scrunched up as he tried to parse the information Armitage was freely offering him. “Impressive,” he said finally. “You managed to throw me off. That doesn't happen often.”

Armitage let himself smile, pleased with the defeated pout on Ben's face. It was a good look on him.

“You were an illegitimate child,” Ben said, now looking at Armitage with his head cocked to one side. It wasn't a question exactly, but an invitation.

Hux's shoulders stiffened, his victory suddenly seeming a bit hollow. If Ben thought that he was going to get under his skin just because he lost, he would have another thing coming. “I take no fault for my father's transgressions.”

“Of course not.” Ben blinked. “Why would you?”

Armitage looked at him. Again, an honest, innocent question. He stared at him for a beat. He wasn't sure how to deal with those. He shook his head, dropping the matter.

Gazing upwards, he noticed that the sky had darkened and the stars were beginning to take form. He contemplated how different everything seemed at night. Free from the sunlight's scrutiny, the nighttime brought about an liberating but unsettling change he couldn't quite describe. He didn't trust it.

“That one's the Arkanis system, you know.” Ben said, pointing at a fuzzy cloud of starlight. “But it's a New Republic planet now.”

Armitage nodded grimly. One day, it would be back under the banner of the First Order. He would see to it personally if he had to.

Ben looked over at him, probably sensing these thoughts. Oh well. Let him.

“Let's practice again tomorrow, if you want?”

“Very well,” Armitage said, standing. “I'll meet you here again after my shift.”

Ben saluted him, his form sloppy. “Goodnight, Major Hux.” Hux was irritated for a fleeting moment but realized Ben wasn't mocking him; he was just a civilian untrained in military etiquette. On second thought, it was almost endearing. Almost.

“Goodnight, Ben.”

 

==


	3. Chapter 3

==

 

Sweat had begun to trickle down his neck. His walls were melting, on fire, the headache searing. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, feeling hot tears at the corners. They'd been practicing for hours. If he didn't give in soon, he would pass out. But he'd been looking forward to this practice ever since he'd gone back to his bunk last night, determined to improve, to win, and he wasn't ready to let Ben best him just yet.  
  
First, Ben had tried teaching him ways to clear his mind. That hadn't been particularly successful. It's not that his mind was cluttered, Ben had told him, but that it was busy. Ceasing all thoughts was something he would have to practice on his own. Thus, Armitage resolved to use their time together to strengthen his mental defenses instead. This proved far more painful as Ben fought back harder, burning up any blockades he could build, but Hux had instructed him not to go easy. Distantly, he heard Ben ask him more than once if he was all right. More intimately, he felt Ben trying to ask it directly into his brain. He put both inquires aside and concentrated on fighting him off.  
  
Ben had insisted on having Armitage's hands on his knees while they practiced, in case he needed to stop but became too incapacitated to speak. Armitage had been reluctant at first, but now with his jaw clenched as his mind burned under the struggle, he was grateful that all he had to do was release the fabric of Ben's robes that he held so tightly to tap out. Finally, he did so.  
  
“Enough,” he said, bowing his head as the pressure receded. “I can't take any more.”  
  
If he hadn't been so exhausted, he probably would have jumped, shocked, when he felt Ben's hands sweep his sweaty hair back from his forehead to rest on either side of his head. “Hey, you did good though. You fight back harder than any of my peers. Most of them probably wouldn't even be able to get through you, and you're not even Force sensitive!”  
  
He didn't appreciate the reminder. The ability to sift through minds for information, to burn down their inner defenses, to make someone surrender like that... what he wouldn't give to be able to do these things himself. The doors they could open for him. Seeing—feeling these powers in action just made him want them all the more. He tried to come up with some contemptuous rejoinder, but the mental effort it took to fight against these powers had left him drained. As it was, he was content to have Ben's fingers in his hair, helping him hold his head up. He could have easily collapsed right into his lap otherwise, so tired was he. And-- wait. Had Ben actually complimented him? In his current state, the thought made him laugh. He opened his eyes lazily and saw his own hands still resting on Ben's knees. How tempting it was to just slide his hands up and lean forward, to rest there. Ben looked comfortable, perhaps even accommodating, and Armitage wanted--  
  
Ben cleared his throat. “Hux?”  
  
Armitage startled at the realization that he wasn't making any attempts to shield his current thoughts of falling face-first into Ben's lap. Suddenly acutely aware of how close they were, he sat up quickly and withdrew his hands, feeling his face get hot. What was he thinking?  
  
Ben looked almost shy, hiding a smile as drew his legs up against his chest and wrapped long arms around them, setting his chin on his knees. His eyes were bright as he looked at Armitage and licked his lips. Hux tried again to find something snide to say but the words stuck in his throat. He wasn't sure what he wanted right now. Why was his heart beating so hard?

Ben broke the heavy silence with a cough. “You should keep practicing, though. Both techniques. Eventually it will become second-nature and you'll stop projecting every delirious thought you have.”  
  
Armitage screwed his face into a glare, hoping that it was dark enough now to hide his flush. He didn't want to know exactly how much of his mind he had been projecting. Or how much of it was truly delirious. Or why his heart was still hammering in his chest.  
  
“Am I the first padawan you've ever met?” Ben asked, a question that might have sounded innocent if not for his smug already-knowing expression.  
  
Not for the first time, Armitage wanted to knock that crooked grin off his face. "Are you going to take that from my mind, too, or are you actually expecting an answer?" He replied, still reeling from sitting up too fast and back to feeling defensive.  
  
Ben rolled his eyes at Hux. "I don't just take things from people's minds, I already told you: you project. Even when I was in your head, I wasn't prying. That kind of thing is the realm of the dark side."  
  
Armitage narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you don't have a dark side?"  
  
Ben wilted a bit, biting down hard on his lower lip. “I follow the Jedi Code.”  
  
"Ah. Yes," Armitage said leaning back, his palms flat against the wooden deck now. “The Jedi Code. Back to that again, I see.”

“The Jedi Code governs our behavior. It's meant to keep us from falling victim to the dark side of the Force,” he explained. “It teaches us to reject our emotions, our passions, and our own desires-- things that could cloud our judgment. In doing so, we're supposed to find peace.”  
  
"Peace," Hux laughed, feeling more comfortable now that he was on the offensive again. "You sound like a senator."  
  
Ben frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
“What do I mean? I mean that thing sounds an awful lot like the mandate of the New Republic, doesn't it? Maintaining neutrality in the name of 'peace'. Refusing to act, paralyzed with the fear that something could be upset? That's not pacifism; it's a lack of conviction. It's indolence, negligence!”  
  
Ben stared openly at him.  
  
Armitage shrugged. "But by all means, wrap yourself in self-denial and content yourself with doing nothing. Powers like yours could bring the entire galaxy to its knees if used properly, and I wouldn't want any competition."  
  
Ben shot him a look. "It's not that I'm content doing nothing," he began. "I just... don't know what to do about it."  
  
Hux sat up again. He wanted to grab him right then, shake him and tell him _exactly_ what he could be doing. _Infiltrate the Galactic Senate! Learn their secrets. Destroy their minds. Make more, bigger fireballs and let them hover in the faces of the New Republic cowards until they bend to your will. Amass an army of Force users and serve the First Order. Join me. Join me! I'll tell you exactly what to do._  
  
As soon as he saw the flicker in Ben's eye, the twitch of his lips, he knew he'd been projecting again. His defenses were utterly wrecked for the night and he knew it. He quickly threw up whatever mental walls he had left before he could made a bigger fool of himself, it was too late for anything else.  
  
Ben looked away quickly, hair falling to shield his face. “I was sworn to uphold the Jedi Code,” he mumbled.  
  
Hux wished he had his cigarras about now. He needed something to occupy his hands, giving him something to do to take off some of this tension. He'd forgotten them back on base in all of his haste to leave after his shift. “And disobeying the Code would make you a bad Jedi, wouldn't it?”  
  
“There's no such thing as a bad Jedi,” Ben replied, annoyed. “There is only the Force, with the light side and the dark. The Jedi walk the path of the light.”  
  
"Then what about the dark?"  
  
“The dark is selfish, for personal gain. The last Force users to follow the dark side were the Sith and the Sith no longer exist. They were driven from existence by their own greed for power. True Jedi aren't tempted by the dark side.”  
  
Armitage looked over at him. He was working his jaw, chewing the inside of his cheek, keeping his gaze fixed on a cracked piece of the wooden deck. The sun had dipped below the horizon a while ago now and the only light came from the moon reflected on the waves of the sea, giving Ben's skin a faintly blueish quality.  
  
“But are _you_?” Hux asked in a lowered voice.  
  
Ben flicked his eyes up to meet Armitage's then looked away, shrugging hard. His slight fluster was almost unnoticeable. Almost. It wasn't a no.  
  
Armitage smirked inwardly but wasn't in the mood to goad him further, not yet. His mind still felt hazy and fractured and he was craving a smoke. “Tomorrow, then?”  
  
Ben looked back up at him and smiled softly. “Tomorrow.”  
  
“Goodnight, Ben.” Armitage said, standing.  
  
“Goodnight, Hux.”

 

Back in his bunk, Armitage laid awake for a long time, contemplating their uneasy friendship (if it could be called that). He wouldn't have guessed the same scowling boy who'd first tried intimidating him only four days ago would now be offering him help on protecting his mind from other Force users. He also wouldn't have guessed that he himself would have ever agreed to let someone freely walk about his carefully compartmentalized mind, but here they were.

For someone who was capable of inflicting such pain without even lifting a finger, he had sounded so concerned when he had asked periodically if Armitage was still all right, or when he had insisted that he keep his hands on his knees, just in case. And then at the end, when he'd allowed his aching head to be held by the same hands that had been trying to rip it apart... what was that about? Why had that felt so... comfortable?

He'd actually considered lying down in the boy's lap and letting his fingers continue to massage his scalp. With hands, gentle now, and those concern-filled eyes, Armitage could have almost felt safe resting there until he was ready to fight again, finally now having found an adversary that could provide a real challenge, as well as an ally that could provide true protection. Had he gone insane?

And _was_ he insane, or had Ben just allowed him to slump over him like that, holding him as he recovered? With his hands resting on Ben's knees, just a touch too intimate, Hux should have expected to be shoved off, not accommodated. But Ben had just smiled softly with those stupidly plush lips of his, pink tongue poking out to wet them as he'd stared at Armitage from behind long eyelashes. Had he imagined it or was that look Ben gave him something hungrier?

Fuck. He was still wide awake, with a whole mess of complicated thoughts and feelings coursing through him and now his dick was taking a most-unwelcome interest. Lying in a bunk that squeaked with every movement of its occupant, in a room full of other people who worked rotating shifts, coming and going at any odd hour, there was no rest for him here, no relief. He wanted to be back down on that abandoned pier. He told himself he was foolish for even entertaining such thoughts. _Blank out your mind,_ he told himself. A command he'd learned from Ben.

It wasn't working.

\--

 

Hux woke the next morning feeling like he'd only gotten about five minutes of restless sleep. It was probably more or less accurate. Still, he extracted himself from bed, showered, and dressed as normal, reaching for his cap on the wall hook before heading off to complete his tasks.  
  
"Hey, where were you last night?" Kyyshiv asked, walking in from the washroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, tracking water everywhere.  
  
Hux inhaled through his nose. He probably should have had an excuse ready for this, but he hadn't prepared for this and it was too early for him to formulate a proper lie. "I was monitoring our guests."  
  
Kyyshiv raised his eyebrows. "I thought we were forbidden from engaging with them."  
  
Hux shrugged, feigning casual, almost familiar. "I put that order in place to discourage our subordinates from meddling where they shouldn't and alerting High Command," he said in a quieter voice.  
  
“Wait,” said Kyyshiv, looking around the room and leaning in closer. “You haven't informed High Command that we have visitors?”  
  
A muscle slid in Hux's jaw. He hadn't expected this to be an issue. “No. I didn't want them getting involved in what is to be a trivial, unimportant matter-- so I took initiative and decided to handle it myself.”  
  
Kyyshiv's eyebrows shot up. “I have a conference call with High Command tomorrow night and you're telling me I should just decline to mention the fact that we have five mysterious and unvetted so-called 'Jedi' guests on our base?”

Shit. Hux hadn't taken Kyyshiv's position into consideration when he went directly to Snoke. Like Hux, he was also required to submit weekly debriefings to High Command and, like Hux, he had access to the off-planet communication system-- the only other person on base with such privileges. While it had been easy to simply issue a command for the junior officers to steer clear of the Jedi travellers, Kyyshiv shared rank and was thus wholly exempt from such a prohibition. Kyyshiv was normally just so lackadaisical and passive about everything that Hux had completely forgotten that he wasn't the only Major on base. It wasn't like him to slip up like this, he needed to be more careful.

He pressed his mouth and shrugged again, still playing at casual and hoping to appeal to his co-major's inertia. “Why mention them at all? They aren't interfering, and I doubt you'd want High Command to get involved, either. Can you imagine the paperwork?”  
  
“They're going to find out one way or another, Hux. You honestly believe no one on this base is going to say something? They may not have access to an outside channel, but you can bet, sure as shit, once we're off this planet, word will spread that we let strange, unannounced visitors peruse Vailen III without any authorization whatsoever. And try explaining THAT to the colonels.”  
  
Hux grit his teeth, feeling a nervous kind of anxiety building in the pit of his gut. It was something he'd considered, more than once, since his liaison with Snoke, but he had to trust the Supreme Leader's judgment on this. He couldn't exactly tell Kyyshiv about his direct link to Snoke, however. If that got back to High Command, even a simple discharge would be too merciful to hope for. He couldn't risk having the entire chain of command of the First Order finding him devious, untrustworthy, or underhanded... not yet, anyway. He might be able to pretend for a while that his connection with the Supreme Leader could protect him, but even he was not that naïve to believe it. Hux knew how such politics were played: some may find his contact with Snoke intimidating enough to suggest leaving him alone, but more would find it precisely intimidating enough to necessitate forming a bloc to ensure that he was removed from his post and stripped of any sort of power completely. And Hux had no misconceptions of his true importance to the Supreme Leader. This was getting complicated.

“It should work itself out.” He said, lamely, racking his sleep-deprived brain for solutions on exactly how this was going to work itself out.  
  
“Work itself out? Fuck, Hux, have you seen some of the things those kids down there can do? Lifting boulders, levitation? I know you've heard the stories of ancient Sith Lords and their powers to create lightning, use mind control. And you really want to let them roam around while we sit here doing nothing, not even letting High Command know?”  
  
“It's a situation I-- _we_ ,” he begrudgingly corrected-- if he wanted Kyyshiv to side with him on this one, it might be prudent to at least pretend that they were on the same side-- “have under control.”  
  
Kyyshiv narrowed his eyes. “You're getting something out of this, aren't you, Hux? I know you have your little reputation for getting your way, but this is something that could come back to bite both our asses and I don't want to be a part of it unless there's something in it for me, too.”  
  
Hux tried to shrug off the implications, but he was rattled now and dead against the idea that this moron could blackmail him into reaping the benefits of what Hux was working so hard to achieve for himself. “What would I be getting out of it? I simply didn't figure you'd want to get High Command involved. And if you know what's best, you won't.”

“Fuck you. I'm a major, just the same as you, I don't have to take orders from you just because your boots are more polished. My family's in High Command and I'm going to let them know about this when I submit my report tomorrow. If you won't tell me what you're hiding, you can tell it to them.”

Hux cast daggers with his glare. “Of course, I should have known you'd be the type to go running to mummy and daddy as soon as a single anomaly fell in your otherwise completely obstruction-free path.”

“What's that supposed to mean, asshole?”

Hux held his ground, saying nothing.

“Sounds like you're just jealous, Armitage. Jealous that at least my parents aren't ashamed to acknowledge my existence.” He flashed a cruel smirk and returned to the showers to dress, leaving Hux boiling with anger and a uneasy anxiety.

Never mind the insult that was nothing Hux hadn't heard before. And never mind what High Command would say-- but what would the Supreme Leader think if Hux couldn't deal with this, his first actual mission? And what would become of the Jedi if High Command found out? Of Ben? He needed to stop Kyyshiv from filing that report.

 

“Morning,” a voice called to him brightly as he marched off towards the off-planet communication tower to contact the Supreme Leader for advice. He glanced over. It was Ben. What was he doing here so early? Hux kept walking.

“Not now, Ben, I've got work to do,” he called back. It was his fault Hux was in this mess to begin with. Kind of.

“What's wrong, Hux?” Ben asked, hurrying to fall in step with Armitage.

Hux sighed. “Nothing. Just... coworkers.”  
  
“Someone you want me to beat up for you?” Ben said with a dopey grin.  
  
Armitage laughed under his breath. He entertained the idea for a brief second and had to admit it was appealing, but he knew better than to let this spiral out of control further. “I wish I could allow that.”  
  
“What's up?”  
  
He shook his head. “There's another major on this base and he wants to file a report to High Command to inform them of your visit here.”  
  
Ben knit his eyebrows. “They don't know we're here?”  
  
“No. Well.” _fuck._ He shouldn't have said anything. It was entirely too early and he hadn't slept nearly enough. He scolded himself for being too forthcoming with this information, not liking the implications of why he would entrust Ben with such things. “The Supreme Leader of the First Order knows, but he has instructed me not to inform the leaders in High Command, my direct superiors.”  
  
“Why's that?”  
  
“It was not an order for me to question.”  
  
Ben nodded, pretending like he understood. “But this jackass you work with, he wants to tell your direct superiors?”  
  
“Precisely,” Armitage grimaced. “And it could mean trouble for me if they realize that I was the one who was withholding information from them.”  
  
“And he doesn't know that you were in contact with your Supreme Leader?”  
  
“No."

“And you can't just tell him?”

Armitage sighed. “I'm afraid it's not that simple.”

The boy nodded again and squinted at Armitage. “I can help you,” he said.  
  
Ben stopped walking. Armitage only took a couple more steps before stopping as well and turning back to face Ben. “You... what?”

“I can help you. With the Force.”

Armitage stared. “With... the Force.” He repeated slowly, skeptically.  
  
“Sure,” Ben bit his lip. “I can do lots of things.”  
  
Armitage blinked. He hadn't said it to boast; he was simply stating a fact, but Hux wasn't sure exactly what that entailed. He also didn't know whether to be grateful or envious. Regardless, it was too early for either. Ben must have sensed Hux's apprehension because he shrugged. “I won't hurt him, obviously. But I can convince him not to say anything. He won't even know what's happening.”

“You can't expect me to believe your Jedi Code would allow such a thing?”

“Exceptions can be made for the greater good,” Ben said, his eyes darting nervously. If he was trying to sound confident, it was only a half-success.

“Greater good?” Armitage scoffed. “What, helping me?”

Ben shrugged again, flushing slightly. “That's what friends do, right?”  
  
Hux stared at him. “Friends,” he repeated, slowly, getting a feel for the strange word in his mouth. Something fluttered in his gut. Maybe his chest. He elected to ignore it.  
  
“We _are_ friends, right?” Ben asked, forcing a lopsided smirk.

Armitage knew Ben was trying to play the question off as a joke, but the worry on his awkward face detracted from the humor. He couldn't help the soft smile that made its unfamiliar way to his lips. He'd had allies before, friendly acquaintances, but a friend? Someone who associated with him without intent to gain favour or power? Normally he would be more suspicious of such a person, but the way Ben wore his feelings so openly plain on his face and body language negated any doubts: he earnestly enjoyed Hux's company. It was strange. Armitage couldn't deny a... reciprocated enjoyment. He swallowed, stamping down the excitement bubbling within him, afraid to explore this feeling any further. “What do you want in return?” He asked instead.

“In return?”

He sounded genuinely confused. Of course he did. Armitage rolled his eyes. “You're doing me a favor, what do you require as repayment?”  
  
“I wasn't planning on asking for anything as payment, but since you're offering, what are my options?” He asked, breaking into a smile.  
  
Armitage pressed his lips, trying to be annoyed with Ben, but finding that he wasn't. Not really. Sighing, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his cigarra case. “A smoke,” he offered. “And I might still have half a bottle of mid-rim whiskey tucked away in my bunk somewhere.”  
  
Ben wrinkled his nose at the cigarras but looked up at the mention of alcohol. “You have booze?”  
  
“Not much, but it's hard to get supplies out here, so it's highly valuable for trade leverage.”  
  
“Deal,” Ben said enthusiastically, sticking out his hand, which Hux shook, his eyebrows raised. Hux pocked his cigarras. He was secretly glad Ben didn't take him up on the smokes; he used them as an excuse to avoid mingling with others on this base. It was easier to part with the alcohol. Were the Jedi actually allowed to drink? Everything about this transaction seemed odd, but he wasn't in a position to question it.

“We're still going to meet up later after your shift, right? For practice?”

Hux brought his hand back to his side. “If you want.”

“Cool,” Ben smiled. “I'll see you later then. And I'll take care of your problem in the meantime. You don't have to tell me which one he is," he pointed to his temple and winked. "I already got it."

Armitage watched as Ben strode off back in the direction of the temple with a strange feeling overcoming him. It was something more than simply gratitude at Ben's offer to help, and he didn't want to know what that meant. He also tried not to acknowledge the lingering doubt in Ben's abilities. There was always the possibility that this could backfire, badly. He took off his cap and ran his hand through his slicked hair. This was a risk, a gamble, but probably his best option at the moment. He had to give him his trust.

It was not something that came easily to the young major.

 

==


	4. Chapter 4

==

A misfiled report by one of the junior lieutenants delayed the end of Armitage's shift that evening, much to his continual frustration. All day his thoughts had been occupied with anxiety over Kyyshiv and his deal with Ben. His attempts at the mind-calming meditation techniques Ben had tried teaching him were met with mild success, though deeper still he knew it should concern him that thoughts of Ben offered this sort of gentle relief. A thousand 'what if' still questions plagued him, none of which he had any answers to or solutions for. It was out of his hands now. He hoped against hope than Ben would pull through on his end of the bargain and tried to let the rest of his anxiety go. There was, however, a fine line between "letting go" and "repressing", the precise boundaries of which remained elusive to him.

Regardless, both were a means to an end, and no matter which mental trick he was employing, he intended to keep up his own half of the deal. The sun was already going down as he made his way back to his dormitory-- at a pace too quick to be considered walking-- to fetch the bottle of alcohol from his secret hiding spot. He wouldn't be too sorry to see it go. Drinking alone was never something he'd found enjoyment in, and there was no way he was going to share this with anyone in his squadron. He retrieved the booze and held it up by the neck. Thus far untouched, the translucent liquid shimmered in the fading daylight. A good omen. He concealed the spot with some old machinery pieces that went forever overlooked and stood. Spinning around, he surprised himself by running smack into Kyyshiv.

“Oh. Um.” Hux faltered, instinctively hiding the bottle behind his back.

Kyyshiv didn't seem to notice. In fact, Hux wasn't even sure if Kyyshiv noticed _anything_. His eyes were a bit glossed, expression vacant.

"Are you all right?" He asked, tentatively waving his hand in front of his eyes when Kyyshiv failed to respond. Had Ben done something irreversible?

“Major Hux,” Kyyshiv said, snapping to attention with a salute and startling Hux. “The Jedi travellers on our island are harmless and their business here is of no consequence to me. I am not to go near them until the day of their departure and I am not to breathe a word of their visit to High Command.”

Hux's eyes narrowed suspiciously, his grip still tight on the bottle behind his back.

“You were right, Major. For the remaining duration of our stationing here, I am to defer to your authority.”

 _Weak-willed people are easily manipulated by simple mind tricks._ Ben's words rang in his head. Hux fought to repress the smile threatening to break through.

“I've prepared my report for tomorrow, if you'd like to see it,” Kyyshiv said airily, offering Hux a datapad. He reached out to snatch the datapad from Kyyshiv's outstretched hand and played back the recorded transmission. It was true: there was not a single mention of the Jedi guests. He couldn't hold back his smile now. Ben had made good on his promise after all. And who cared if this were irreversible? He straightened and handed back the datapad. “I approve.”

“At your permission, I'll submit it now, sir.” His attention was still elsewhere, but Hux nodded and watched as he hit _send._

Kyyshiv didn't seem to notice as Hux brushed past him, back outside, giddy with excitement and still clutching the liquor by the bottleneck. But the daylight was almost completely gone now. Suddenly, he felt a sinking sort of disappointment in his stomach, surely Ben wouldn't still be waiting for him. He cursed and started coming up with ways to apologize as he hurried to the abandoned pier.

A surprising amount of relief washed over him when he arrived to find Ben sitting cross-legged at the end of the wooden deck, eating some sort of giant yellow fruit he must have picked from the nearby trees. Ben held it out to him, offering, as he approached, but Armitage put a hand up to decline. He didn't even know what thing was. Did Ben? Ben shrugged as he finished it and chucked the scraps off the side of the pier. Wiping his hands on his robes, he looked up at Armitage, whose face had now contorted in disgust.

"I know you think you're better than everyone else because you were raised in the Order, and the Order provides for you. But I'm not ashamed that I know how to survive off the land," Ben said with a shrug. "Where have you been, anyway? I started to think you weren't coming."

Armitage pressed his lips together before responding. "Unfortunately I had to sort out more incompetency issues."

Ben made a noise in understanding. "Ah."

"I didn't expect you to wait for me.”

“Were you worried I wouldn't be here?” Ben said, not even trying to hide his smile.

“Not _worried_.” Hux said quickly. He hadn't been worried. It was just that... he'd felt bad? No, somehow that was even worse. “Never mind. Here.” He handed his bottle to Ben, who took it with all the embarrassing over-excitement of someone who's clearly not supposed to be drinking. Hux barely managed to suppress an eye roll. “I ran into Kyyshiv.”

“And?” Ben was grinning, chuffed, as he unscrewed the cap.

Armitage couldn't suppress an eye roll at that. He undid the top button of his tunic and began rolling up his sleeves. “What do you want, a pat on the back for doing what you were supposed to do?”

Ben wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue, but not even Hux's casual sideswipe of a worthy accomplishment-- a gaslighting strategy taken directly from the pages of his father-- seemed to dampen his spirits.

"Am I to believe the Jedi Code allows for intoxication?"

Ben pulled a face. "Yeah, well. I haven't drank since I've been in training. Besides, this is a reward."

"A reward for breaking certain other Jedi rules?" Armitage smirked.

“It's different if you're doing it to help a friend!"

"Oh, is it?" Hux asked, amused by Ben's questionable sense of judgment. He realized he was shooting himself in the foot here, but as it was, he found himself stuck on how Ben just had called him a friend again. He'd had allies before, friendly acquaintances, but a friend? Someone who associated with him without intent to gain favour or power? Normally he would be more suspicious of such a person, but the way Ben wore his feelings so openly plain on his face and body language negated any doubts: he earnestly enjoyed Hux's company. It was strange. But Armitage couldn't deny a... reciprocated enjoyment.

"I was doing you a favor!"

It was true, and Armitage knew it. He relented, not sure entirely why he'd been so inclined towards cruelty in the first place. His insides twinged with regret and he had another strange urge to come up with an apology that sounded sincere. None materialized, but when he looked down at Ben, he found him smiling anyway. Projecting.

“Cheers!” Ben said as he took a large swig. Hux had half-expected him to come up coughing and making a face, sputtering something about it being 'too strong', but instead he just looked thoughtful, examining the bottle and taking another drink. "It's smoky."

Armitage took the container back and drank from it himself as if he had something to prove.

"It's made from a fermented succulent, native to the last planet I was stationed on. I picked it up before leaving."

"Mirrha?"

"How did you know that?" Hux asked, surprised.

Ben shrugged. "My dad used to make smuggling runs there. Dry place, really different from here."

Hux hummed. So his father was a smuggler. Ben had travelled a bit. That made some sense. "Mirrha did have a rather large smuggling problem." _Not so much anymore,_ he thought to himself proudly.

"Was that why you were there?" He asked when Armitage finally came to sit cross-legged beside him, looking out over the sea. "To stop smugglers?"

Hux made a noise in affirmation and passed the bottle back to Ben. "While my platoon was stationed there we cracked down on smuggling rings and enforced strict customs regulations. Revenue from tariffs and duties increased significantly. The planet became one of the most prosperous in its system."

"Wow, taxation." Ben said dryly, taking another swig in exaggerated sarcasm. "Fascinating."

Hux leered at him. "The quality of life for the planet's natives will likewise improve thanks to the surplus in their government's treasury."

"A true humanitarian."

"Shut up," Hux snatched the bottle back from Ben and took a drink. Ben laughed. "We're putting the galaxy back in order. It's more than you or your smuggler father can say." Armitage was suddenly hit with a flash of horror, wondering if perhaps Ben's father had been one of the criminals his squadron had apprehended. He hadn't directly been involved with the punishment of suspects, but there were widespread rumors of torture that were maybe more than just rumors.

"He wasn't," Ben said, overhearing these thoughts. He shook his head and looked away. "He was always afraid of getting involved in deals that meant getting things through the First Order. Mom would have killed him herself if he'd tried."

Hux smiled a bit, both with relief and with pride. He realized he liked learning these small things about Ben, it gave him a fuller picture of the boy sitting next to him.

“You know, I was thinking last night,” Ben said. “You'd said you can't remember your birth mother.”

“That is correct,” Armitage said stiffly, passing the bottle back to Ben. “I was taken from her when I was very young.”

“I...” Ben started hesitantly, “I don't know how well it would work, but I might be able to look through your memories, if you want?” He paused, biting at his lip again before continuing. “It would be a different kind of mental exercise, but I might be able to find things that you didn't even know you had stored away.”

Armitage frowned. He was bristling on this inside, uncomfortable at the mere suggestion. Ben took a drink and passed it back to him. He sipped at it while he processed the proposition. It was an interesting opportunity to be sure, but something deeper in him recoiled at the idea.

“No.” He said, finally. “It's not relevant to my life now.”

Ben regarded him oddly, then looked away. “It must be strange,” he said after a beat.

“What?”

“To have such a strong sense of belonging.”

“What do you mean?” He handed the bottle back to Ben, who drank from it-- generously-- before replying.

“The Order, it's your entire life. You know your place within it, and exactly what you want out of it.”

Armitage shrugged. It didn't seem that hard to him. He supposed he hadn't been given any alternatives, but what alternatives were there? Surely he wouldn't have wanted to become a dithering senator, nor a lawless smuggler. He'd once, as a child, entertained the idea of being a bounty hunter, but why spend your life chasing petty rulebreakers when you could be the one setting the bounty out in the first place? No, the First Order suited him, and his ambitions, perfectly. As Ben had rightly said, he knew his place within the military and exactly what he wanted out of it.

“I wish I had that, is all.” Ben said with a sigh.

Armitage stayed silent a moment, let Ben have his sulk. “You're not like your peers, are you?"

Ben held the bottle and frowned, looking caught halfway between owning that truth and on the verge of tears, years of silent loneliness pouring out from him.

Armitage knew full well that being different wasn't always, or even usually, a compliment, but shrugged away the sympathy he felt creeping up on him. “You're better than them, stronger. Don't apologise for it.”

Ben turned to him with watery eyes, smiling fondly. “Yeah.”

Armitage sat up straighter, clearing his throat, ignoring the pounding in his chest. “What about your parents? Are they like you?” He asked, feeling oddly open to indulging his curiosity as Ben handed him the bottle again. He'd been saving this drink throughout his deployment, for what, he wasn't sure, but he was suddenly glad it had been for this. And now with it almost gone, he was feeling more than a little tipsy. It had been awhile for him, too. “Can they use the Force?”

“My mother can, but she wasn't trained. She pretends like she can't. It's tiring. She won't even acknowledge it most of the time, won't even try,” Ben said. “But my father, no. He's even worse than you --no offense,” he added when Armitage cut him a side-eyed glare. Armitage rolled his eyes. “But that's why they sent me away, I guess.”

“Sent you away? To Jedi school?”

“Yeah,” Ben sniffed, taking the bottle back and finishing it off. “That's why I'm here. They didn't want to deal with me anymore, I guess. Too busy with their own fucking problems. And my dad, he just... doesn't get it at all, what it's like, how it feels. He'd prefer it if I were more like him, I'm sure. Thinks he's so great.” He pitched the empty bottle far out into the sea and scowled.

They fell back into a kind of brooding silence. Armitage peered over at him, looking sullen and cross. He was overcome with an uncharacteristic urge to reach out to the boy and pull him close for a hug, but he'd never done such a thing in his entire life and honestly didn't know how to start. There had never been training for that.

“I suppose my father was much the same,” he said instead, somehow feeling better for divulging this. "I can't imagine he was pleased to learn that his affair had produced a child, especially not one such as I was."

Armitage could feel Ben peeking at him, attempting to parse this statement through the Force. "Such as you were?"

Hux did what he could to boot Ben out of his mind. "I've been told I wasn't always so... tenacious."

Ben's brow creased as if he were struggling to imagine this.

"We had our... differences. He did what he could to make me like him, and when it wasn't enough, he sent me to the Academy," Armitage continued, tongue feeling loosened by the alcohol. "That seemed to do the trick."

"You don't have... differences anymore?"

Hux pressed his lips, not sure how to respond. He shrugged. "Sure we do. But now where we differ, I can hold my own ground. I know who I am, what I want."

"What you want." Ben mused softly. "But still above all else, you want his approval. You're afraid you'll never live up to his expectations and are willing to do anything to prove him wrong about you, to get him to say he's proud of you. That you're not useless."

Armitage didn't at first believe what he'd just heard. He turned to gape at him, but Ben just shrugged as if he hasn't just casually invaded the private place where he concealed his embarrassing truths. "I sensed it when we were practicing before. Same as I sensed you loved your mother, even if you don't remember her.”

This stunned Armitage further into a furious silence. He felt his face flushing. How dare he presume to know anything. He was suddenly overcome with a thousand unprocessed emotions and memories he'd long tried to repress, feeling dizzy and perhaps a bit sick. He recoiled. He really should have known better than to let Ben wander around freely in his mind. He'd been taught better than that.

“Sorry,” Ben said, taking note of Armitage's sudden mood shift. “Hux?”

“I should go,” Armitage said, making to stand.

“Wait, please!” Ben grabbed him by the wrist, not letting go when Hux angrily tried to wrench his arm free. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I fucked up. I shouldn't have-- . Please. Don't go,” he begged, boring into his eyes with pleading desperation. “I'm not making fun of you. I... like talking with you. You're... different, too. No one else is like you.”

Armitage swallowed, feeling frozen. He fleetingly wondered if that was the first time someone had ever called him that and didn't mean it as an insult, but rather... a commendation? Or, stranger yet, common ground. He grit his teeth. He didn't know what to make of this feeling that was growing in him regarding Ben. This odd warming sensation that caused him to want to know more about Ben, the person, made him want to tell Ben things about himself that he would have never dreamed of telling anyone else, willing to overlook what should have been unforgivable. Ben had already seen into him, could have seen the worst of him, honestly, but was still here, holding onto him as if afraid to let go. "Stay. Please."

Maybe it was just the alcohol, maybe it was something more. Making no attempt to shake Ben's hand from his wrist, he sighed and settled back onto the deck beside him.

Ben sat staring at his hand on Armitage's wrist for just a bit longer than could be played off before retracting it too quickly. Armitage missed it as soon as it left. He didn't say so outright, but the walls he put up against the thought were paper-thin, just asking to be set ablaze. _Projecting._

Ben was staring at him now, wide-eyed. “You're not afraid of me at all, are you?”

“Why would I be?”

“Most people are, when they see how strong I am with the Force.”

Armitage normally would have rolled his eyes, but again, it wasn't something Ben was saying to brag; it was just the truth. “Well, I'm not.” Also the truth.

Ben smiled brightly. Looking down, he bit his lip. Armitage wondered if Force-projection could flow both ways, because he could swear he felt waves of gratitude emanating from Ben and crashing into him again and again. Maybe an apology, too. _I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know how to navigate the boundaries of my own powers. Maybe you can help me._ Armitage scooted just slightly closer, their shoulders nearly touching.

They talked for a while into the night, about nothing in particular: which constellations they could pick out, which planets they'd visited, their favorite music-- though they had no commonalities there, people they hated (that was a particularly lengthy discussion), Hux's experiences with combat, Ben's first forays into using mind manipulation to get what he wanted, and how badly he'd been scolded once his mother found out. Feeling a sleepy, maybe also a little drunk, Armitage eventually laid back on the deck to stare up at the stars, his legs stretched out and hanging over the edge of the pier. Ben hovered over him a moment with a goofy smile, then copied his position, his hands folded under his head.

“Which one did you come from?” Armitage asked, gesturing to the sky.

“I spent a lot of time on Chandrila as a kid, then Hosnian Prime.” Ben said, pointing to their corresponding stars.

“Really? Your accent doesn't sound like it comes from the Core Worlds.”

Ben shrugged. “We moved around a lot. I don't feel like I really have a home planet. I spent a lot of my childhood travelling on ships with my dad while my mom was working. She didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do, she was always too busy for anything but work."

“What did she do?”

“She's a senator.”

Armitage had to laugh at that. Of fucking course she was. The one thing more distasteful to him than being a renegade smuggler. He groaned, passing a hand over his face. “That explains a lot, actually.”

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Your reluctance to take action, for one," Hux said. "Your preference to have others tell you how to live, for another. This whole concept of 'balance'."

“Shut up,” Ben said, only half-defensively, smacking at Hux with one hand. “My mother doesn't dictate my life.”

“Is that so?” Hux teased, perhaps slightly maliciously, still half-wanting to get back at him for his earlier mind-ransacking. “Then she wasn't the one to send you away to Jedi school?”

Ben pushed himself to his elbows and sneered over him. “Oh, like your father shipped you off to the Academy?”

“I could have left at any time,” Hux shrugged, refusing to rise to the bait. “But it was right for me, so I stayed. I chose to stay.”

Ben rolled his eyes at him. “Well I'm choosing to stay, too.”

“Choosing to do nothing, you mean.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Ben swore, punching Hux's shoulder lightly. “I already told you-- I'm trying to find peace through the Force.”

“Peace.” Armitage shook his head. “You could do so much better serving the First Order.”

“The First Order, or you?

Hux snorted, then looked up at Ben, who was staring at him intently. His skin had started to flush. Armitage swallowed and lowered his voice, feeling bold. "Let me ask you this, Ben," he reached up to touch the braid hanging loose in the padawan's hair, sliding his fingers down to the frayed end. "Does this monastic lifestyle satisfy you?" He brought his hand to rest on his own chest again where his heart was drumming hard.

Ben considered his answer, his fingers mimicking Hux's as they worked their way down the braid in his hair to rub idly at the loose end. "I don't know," he admitted after a moment's pause. "I want to find peace, but I also want more, you're right. But if I continue to follow this path, I will eventually be able to let go of my desire for more. That's the entire point."

Armitage propped himself up on his elbow, turning to face Ben full on. “Don't settle for mediocrity under the guise of 'peace'. By doing so, you choose to blind yourself to the truths of the world, thus relegating yourself to a meaningless existence.” He said, impassioned. “Instead of letting go of your desire, let go of your inhibitions.”

Hux had always been a good speaker, and he loved the way he could capture attention; just the way Ben was staring at him now, utterly transfixed, his lips slightly parted and trembling, stoked his adrenaline rush. A wild thought crossed Armitage's mind: he wanted to kiss that mouth. He didn't even try to conceal it.

Ben trapped his lower lip between his teeth again. “Hux,” he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm not. I'm not satisfied. At all."

Excitement welled up in Armitage's chest and coursed its way through his veins, his heart beating hard. "Come here," he said, reaching for him. Ben's eyes widened, his breath catching. He gasped as Armitage drew him near. He could hear Ben's heart pounding in his chest, could tell Ben didn't know where to put his hand, but he felt it settle on his thigh, fingers sliding up the fabric of his uniform pants. Armitage leaned forward to place his mouth on Ben's quivering lips, drinking in Ben's hushed murmur. He licked at the swell of his lower lip until Ben opened just enough for Armitage to slip his tongue inside, tasting liquor and tropical fruit, sweet and tangy.

When he pulled back, he did so slowly, smiling. The flush high on Ben's cheeks told him a lot: first, Ben had likely never done anything like this before, second, he was no longer planning to pretend he had a sincere interest in divesting himself of his want to change that. He noticed the corner of Ben's mouth twitching shyly, afraid to upturn completely, as if still weighing the importance of this transgression. He leaned in towards Ben again, pausing again just before making contact, waiting. He didn't have to wait for long. Ben's lips were open and back on his instantly, aching and hungry for more.

Ben was practically climbing onto his lap now, and Armitage allowed it. Ben's hands slid up his side to his shoulder blades as he kissed back, sloppy and over-eager.

"I shouldn't be doing this.” Ben whispered.

“Who's going to find out?” Armitage whispered back, nipping at his ear. “Are you afraid your teacher is going to read your mind? See what you've been up to?”

“He has no idea what's in my mind,” Ben said, squirming as Armitage mouthed his way down his neck.

“Shh,” Armitage shushed, licking lightly at the artery in Ben's neck. “I won't tell him.”

Armitage's was already hard by now and could feel Ben's own arousal caught between their bodies. He shifted, rutting up against him and eliciting another surprised gasp from Ben's lips. He licked his way back up to Ben's mouth to catch the next one as he rubbed up against him again. If this had been just another late night boozy encounter with some random Academy classmate, their pants would probably already have been down around their ankles, slick fingers desperately grasping at each other, forgoing any of this mouth-kissing and mutually assuring their own silence, but he didn't feel that frantic pressure with Ben, nor the necessity for detachment. Quite the opposite-- he wanted to take it easy, slow enough to enjoy themselves and commit this to memory. This was an entirely new-- terrifying-- experience.

“Hux,” Ben whispered in between breaths, “I've been wanting to do this since I first overheard your stupid fantasies.”

“Good," Hux said, grinning. "You lonely boy.”

Ben nodded, pinching his eyes shut, perhaps hoping Armitage wouldn't notice them getting wet. Ben wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

"It's--" Armitage had once learned this from someone. "Okay. It's okay." The words sounded foreign coming out of his mouth, but somehow right. “Ben." Despite feeling awkward, he let his arms wrap around Ben in kind. "You're okay.” This was something his mother used to do, to say, to him when he'd come crying her as a child. The realization startled him. He swallowed and hugged Ben tighter.

“I just... didn't think you. Would--,” Ben stammered. “With me.”

“You're not a very good mind reader after all, then, are you?”

Ben's entire face lit up when he pulled back and smiled. He looked down, grinning and flushed. “How many times do I have to tell you I don't just go spying.”

“You weren't even tempted?”

“I mean, I was but...”

“Are you still afraid of the dark side?”

Ben sucked in a deep breath, his eyes boring into Armitage's. “No.”

Armitage's eyes fell shut as Ben leaned forward for another kiss, which he opened for, again and again. Fuck embarrassment-- this was the best thing that had happened to him this entire deployment and he was going to enjoy every moment of it. It was the reward he deserved. He _earned_ this. It was _his_.

His lap eventually grew tired of Ben's weight and Armitage was forced to roll them onto their sides, each with an arm under the other, their legs tangled and foreheads pressed together. Thus, they lay entangled on the pier for another long while, exchanging unrefined kisses and more old stories with a mixture of eye rolls and easy laughter.

“I should get back to base,” Armitage eventually said with a sigh as another constellation began to rise over the horizon, signalling dawn's rapid approach. “I have to work soon and I can't show up smelling like booze and. Well, you.”

Ben smiled sadly and pressed his forehead into Armitage's shoulder. “Yeah. I should go back to my shuttle, too. I wish you could come back with me.”

Armitage scoffed at him, reaching over to brush his cheek, patchy with unshaven fuzz. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Ben didn't even try to hide the way he leaned into the touch. There was something disarmingly addictive about this feeling. "Yes."

Inhaling, he withdrew his arms and pushed himself up. He offered his hand to Ben, who took it and stood in kind, then leaned in to peck him on the mouth again. The alcoholic buzz may have been wearing off, but it was replaced by a different, more substantial, fulfilling kind of buzz that Armitage had no words for or experience with. They kissed once more, slower but fervent, and Armitage smiled to himself the entire way back to his dormitory.

 

 

At some point during the night, Hux's comm began buzzing loudly, knocking him out of a fitful sleep. He fumbled around in the dark until his fingers found their way to the familiar metal shape and turned it over to see what High Command could possibly want from him now. When he read the callback number, he nearly fell out of his bunk. It wasn't High Command.

It was Supreme Leader Snoke.

==


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo... I did some major deviations from my original plan because I kept hating everything and fucking with it lollll and now I don't know if this will actually stay as 6 chapters or if I'll extend it to 8 or if I'll just end up setting my computer on fire after all lmaooooo %) anyway, here's this, way overdue.

==

  
His stomach suddenly dropping, Armitage kicked the thin sheet from his legs and sprung out of bed, madly groping for a light so he could redress. He scrambled to the closet, pulling on a fresh tunic and trousers, fumbling for his hat as he practically fell over himself to pull on his boots before grabbing his comm device and sprinting to the holochamber on the other side of the base.  
  
Most of his tipsy haze had worn off by this point, but his mouth felt dry and his eyes were aching with lack of rest. Licking his lips, he wondered if anyone would be able to smell the alcohol on his breath; he'd forgotten to brush his teeth when he'd slipped into his bunk last night and wasted no time doing so before rushing out of the dormitories. Scent was blissfully not a sense transmitted by holo, so at least he didn't have to concern himself with being discovered by the Supreme Leader in that way, but a sudden flash of alarm hit him at the thought that perhaps Leader Snoke was as attuned to the Force as Ben. And if the Supreme Leader could see into Hux's head as easily as Ben was able to... his stomach clenched at the thought of it. At best, his relations with Ben would be considered highly unprofessional-- not a trait he wanted associated with himself. At worst... Hux didn't want to think about it. Either way, there was no undoing what had been done.  
  
His fingers shook as he punch in the Supreme Leader's access code and waited for him to appear, bowing when he did.  
  
“Major Hux,” the hologram boomed, echoing in the empty room. “Report.”  
  
“I--” he opened his mouth, but realized he had no idea what he was supposed to be giving report on. “Supreme Leader, what do you wish to know first?” He said, hoping that question would mask his misunderstanding.  
  
“The Jedi. I sense they are still in range.”  
  
Of course. He took a steadying breath and composed himself. “Yes. It has been four Valien days since the Jedi Master arrived with his four apprentices. He surrendered his lightsaber to First Order customs for the duration of his stay and does not appear to be otherwise weaponised. He has spent his entire time in meditation since arrival and I have been told he is not to be disturbed.”  
  
If Snoke thought that was as odd as Hux did, he gave no indication. Hux pretended it was of no importance to him, either. “And the apprentices?” Snoke asked.  
  
Hux swallowed. This is where he would have to be careful. “They seem to spend their time either meditating or practicing with the Force. I have instructed the rest of the crew to leave them be, as per your order.”  
  
“And you,” Snoke said, looking down at him now. “Have you spoken with them?”  
  
Hux felt his insides wither. He wondered if the Supreme Leader was in his head, lurking, his presence going undetected, even with Hux's attempts at mental vigilance. “I--” he took a deep breath. It would do no good to lie. “Yes, Supreme Leader.”  
  
The Supreme Leader fell silent, contemplating Hux's punishment, probably. He was going to get himself discharged. At best. Killed, more like.  
  
“And?”  
  
Hux faltered, swallowing hard again though his mouth felt dry. His stomach had knotted, his heart was racing. He was starting to lose the feeling in the tips of his fingers, but he made a concentrated effort not to move them in such a way that would betray this fact. “Supreme Leader?”  
  
“Your assessment of the Jedi, Major Hux.”  
  
Hux wished he knew what the Supreme Leader was trying to get at. He felt sick with anxiety, afraid of saying the wrong thing, but he knew it would be worse if this was on display. With remarkable effort, he kept his exterior perfectly composed. “They seem to be pacifists. Dedicated students of the Force, they seem to have no further ambitions beyond upholding their Jedi Code.”  
  
“Unfortunate.” Snoke made a low rumbling noise of displeasure in the back of his throat and sat back. “The Jedi will invoke their Code to interfere with the actions of the First Order. They want to maintain peace above all." His hand curled into a fast at the armrest of his throne. “They will see the First Order as a threat to that peace.”  
  
Hux stiffened. Though Snoke's scrutiny was off of him, Hux wasn't liking this new direction, either. “Supreme Leader,” he said before he had the chance to really analyze what he was about to say. “There is one who doesn't seem to fit well with the other three. He's more...” Hux regretted the word the moment it left his lips, “passionate.”  
  
Snoke's black eyes swiveled down to regard Hux.  
  
“Ambitious,” Hux corrected, wishing that word had come to mind before 'passionate' had. He pressed forward, cursing his poor choices and hoping to anything that Snoke was not the mind reader he feared he could be. “Ben is his name. I believe that, with the right direction, he could become an ally.”  
  
“Ben,” Snoke mused, distant. His eyes closed and for a long time, he said nothing else-- so long that Hux began to wonder if he'd fallen asleep. Just before Armitage began to fidget, Snoke's large eyes snapped open again.

"A long time has passed since I have been in contact with Ben." Armitage's expression must have slipped, for Snoke continued, "Don't seem so surprised, Major. I am connected to a great many by the Force."  
  
Hux felt the corner of his mouth twitch, but he kept his mouth shut on the matter. It was not a subject for him to speak to. This was a very tenuous situation he'd wandered into and the slightest move could shift the balance and send the entire thing toppling. For multiple reasons, many of which Hux did not want to address directly, he was going to do his best to keep this afloat.  
  
“Ben is an interesting case. Strong potential, in both the light and the dark: the perfect embodiment of the Force.”  
  
Hux stood straighter, his chest puffed out with a small amount of relief and, oddly enough, pride. He almost thought to mention that Ben's mother was a senator but held his tongue. If it were true that the he had had contact with Ben before, it was likely the Supreme Leader already knew this.  
  
“The Jedi must be stopped before they can mount a significant resistance to us,” Snoke continued. “If he can be brought to the dark side, our task will be made far simpler.”  
  
“Shall I present the idea to him, Supreme Leader?” Hux asked, trying his best not to sound as invested in the person as the result.  
  
For the first time since Armitage had mentioned Ben, Snoke cast his full attention down at him. “Do you believe he trusts you?”  
  
Armitage kept his face as even as he could manage. “Yes.”  
  
“Good,” Snoke said with a growl. “If what you say is true, it would be align with visions I have long sensed.”  
  
“Supreme Leader, what is your command?”  
  
“Bring him to me, it is time I conversed with him again.”  
  
“Yes, Supreme Leader.”  
  
"The ways of the Force can be so hard to predict," Snoke's attention was elsewhere again. "But my senses bode well." Snoke's mouth curled into an unkind smile before he looked back down at Hux. "Go. Tend to your duties, Major. Contact me when the padawan is ready to meet."  
  
“Yes, Supreme Leader.”  
  
After the holo had faded, Hux left the chamber feeling emboldened. He liked that he had direct access to the Supreme Leader, that Snoke had asked him for his assessment and judgment, and he felt more good about the level of confidence the Supreme Leader had placed in him. Moreover, he felt almost giddy with excitement that his plan to bring Ben to the First Order was being sanctioned, equally pleased that Snoke had entrusted him to this task specifically.  
  
The sun was beginning to rise over the water horizon already, the sky a soft shade of pale pink with yellowing edges. Armitage resigned himself to not sleeping and went back to his dormitory to get ready for the morning.

 

  
The day passed largely without incident: supplies came and went, inventories were taken, and still the clouds showed no signs of raining. Hux watched silently as the clock ticked away the last minute of his shift, not once taking his eyes off of it. Though he was only scheduled half of a normal shift today, it felt twice as long. He'd been daydreaming about his plans to bring Ben to the First Order all day. He pictured them training together, carrying out routine patrols side by side. He imagined that, in reality, there would be little overlap between Ben's Force training and his own military duties, but he liked to pretend that they'd still have time to learn to work together as they each advanced and strengthened until, finally, they were at the head of the Order. And then, the galaxy. It wasn't treasonous, Hux reasoned; Snoke's presence and factor into this fantasy was simply not acknowledged here.

The clocked turned over, and Armitage was out the door, on his way to the abandoned pier.  
  
Ben was already waiting for him at the end of the dock, sitting crosslegged on the deck. "Hey!" He said brightly, a faint pink blush coloring his cheekbones. "How was work?"

Armitage made a noncommittal noise and Ben laughed. "That good, eh?" Ben scooted over to make room for Hux beside him. “Man, I was so hungover this morning. It's been a while since I'd had anything to drink. That stuff you had was strong; my head was pounding for hours after I woke up!” He looked up, flashing Hux that crooked smile. “It was worth it though.”  
  
His pink flush grew a bit darker when Armitage smiled back at him, feeling his own face get hot.  
  
Ben patted the deck next to him, indicating for Hux to sit. “How about you, did you sleep okay?”  
  
“Not much,” Armitage admitted. “I had an urgent call this morning, not long after I'd gotten back to my bunk.”  
  
“A call?”  
  
“The Supreme Leader of the First Order,” Hux said. “He wishes to meet with you.”  
  
“W—what?” Ben's brow creased. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Exactly what I said,” Armitage replied, masking his proud smirk with an impassive shrug and finally taking a seat beside Ben on the pier.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I told him you had potential. That he should consider drafting you into the First Order.”  
  
Ben's face lit up. “You did?”  
  
His grin was infectious. Armitage found himself unable to hold back a smile of his own. Ben bit his lip and looked away.  
  
“I hope you don't mind,” Armitage said. “But I can't stand the thought of such potential going to waste.”  
  
Ben turned back to him with an even wider grin. Armitage studied his face as he processed these events. Slowly, Ben's smile faded back into a look of concern. “But, the First Order...” He began, trailing off.  
  
“Is the only entity out there actively working to change the galaxy.” Hux supplied.  
  
Ben shot him a look. “Yeah, you should hear some of the things that get said about you people.”  
  
Armitage lifted one shoulder. He'd heard it all before, in intercepted propaganda feeds. What the First Order was trying to do was beyond the understanding of the New Republic cowards and he was above explaining it. “You know my feelings on the matter.”  
  
“Regardless,” Ben said, shaking his head. “What did he say, your Supreme Leader? He wants to recruit me?”  
  
Armitage shrugged. “I expect he'll tell you when we conference with him.”  
  
“Conference with--! Wow,” Ben laughed nervously. “Does he know I can use the Force?”  
  
“He can, too, apparently.”  
  
Ben looked surprised. “Oh? Why didn't you tell me sooner? It's really rare to meet someone who can use the Force.”  
  
“I didn't know myself until I spoke with him this morning, to be quite honest. There are rumours, of course, but he is not known for being... forthcoming, and especially not those outside of High Command.”  
  
“Well you must be pretty special if he's talking to you,” Ben grinned, nudging Armitage with his elbow. “And me too, I don't even have a rank at all!” He laughed to himself and Hux rolled his eyes. “Wow. The First Order. Think I'll be a major, too? Major Ben Solo,” he said, splaying his hands out in front of him. “Ooh, or General Solo?” He pulled a face. “Ugh, no, sounds like my father.”  
  
Hux stared at him, eyebrows drawn together. “Ben. Be serious.” The last thing he needed was to show up before the Supreme Leader with this overeager teenager rambling on about nonsense. _'Yes, Supreme Leader, I swear, this is the ambitious future warrior I told you about.'_  
  
Ben's hands fell back to his lap. “You think I'm not serious?”  
  
Armitage shook his head. “I'm asking you to consider the offer critically. Are you sure you want to do this?”  
  
Ben sighed and looked down. “It would definitely piss off my parents." His fingers reached up to trail the length of the tightly woven braid hanging in his hair. "And I wouldn't be training as a Jedi anymore, that's for sure.”  
  
“No. You'd be joining the First Order. No more of this Jedi Code nonsense, no more pacifism and appeasement. You'd be on our side.” Armitage reached his own hand over to touch Ben's, pinching the plaits of the braid and giving it a soft tug. _My side._  
  
“Do you think your Supreme Leader will train me in the Force?”  
  
“I assume so, though I must confess, matters related to the Force are outside my scope of expertise.”  
  
Ben grinned at that, much to Hux's annoyance. “All right. I'll go. I'll have a conference with him. It won't hurt to talk, in any case.”  
  
Sighing, Hux retreated into his own space. “Allegiance to the First Order isn't to be taken lightly, you realise. It requires relentless dedication, fierce loyalty, and an unwavering commitment to the greater cause.”  
  
“Done.” Ben leaned in to kiss Armitage on the mouth. Though he wanted to reprimand him for his flippancy, Armitage swallowed the urge and let himself be kissed. He could let this one go.  
  
Ben scooted ever closer, his hands coming to rest on Hux's knees. “So when do I meet him?” He murmured over Hux's lips.  
  
“Supposedly, you already have.”  
  
“What?” Ben asked, pulling back slightly.  
  
“He told me he had been in contact with you before, long ago. He didn't give me details, and it's not my place to demand them.”  
  
Ben suddenly looked very far away. “Snoke,” he whispered.  
  
Hux didn't like the idea that perhaps Ben already knew more about the Supreme Leader than he did; he found it unsettling in the extreme, like he was being left out of something. He waited for Ben to say more, but he remained lost in thought. Frowning, Armitage placed his hands atop Ben's, running his thumbs along Ben's knuckles, bringing him back to himself. “You do know him, then?”  
  
Ben looked up at him. “Yeah...” he took a long pause and brought his hands back to his own lap. “I met him once when I was a child, travelling with my father to some outer rim planet, I can't remember which. My father had gone off to make some deal and left me to take care of myself, as usual. And, well, I don't like sitting still, never have. So I went out to wander around. Ended up getting lost. It was late and the sun had gone down. I must have been eight or nine at the time, and I panicked. I didn't know how to control my powers then, started causing a lot of destruction without really meaning to, ended up hurting a few people on accident,” Ben swallowed and took a sudden interest in his hands. He licked at his lip before continuing. “Eventually, there was someone who calmed me down. He could use the Force, too. A lot stronger than me. I thought he was going to be angry with me, but he wasn't interested in punishing me, even though I'd made such a mess of everything. In fact, he seemed almost proud of me for that, then. Well, maybe not proud so much as impressed. I tried to apologize but he told me my strength was nothing to be ashamed of, that it was okay I couldn't control my powers yet.”  
  
“And this was Leader Snoke?” Hux asked, taking a strange fascination in this story.  
  
“Yeah. I mean, I didn't know he was with the First Order. Maybe he wasn't then, I don't know. I don't think it would have mattered. I just knew that here was someone who could use the Force and wasn't trying to control me with it. Here was someone who saw the extent of my powers and wasn't afraid of them, he encouraged them. I remember because he was the first one to say things like that to me.”

“And what happened?”

Ben laughed a bit. “With a simple wave of his hand, he convinced everyone that they hadn't seen anything unusual happen, it had just been some freak landquake or something. That was the first time I'd ever seen a mind-trick used like that, with no justification for being about 'the greater good'. Naturally, I was fascinated.”

“Naturally.”

Ben shrugged. “Then he returned me to my father, who was totally freaking out that I had disappeared like he wasn't the one who had left me on my own, bored. Snoke told him he saw potential in me and offered to train me in the ways of the Force, but my father flat-out refused and sent him on his way. 'Can you believe that guy? What a weirdo,' he'd said.” Hearing someone talk about the Supreme Leader in such a way, even secondhand, was jarring to Hux, who tried not to let it show. “And then we were off. Off to the next backwater planet where my dad could find another bounty or smuggling mission while I sat around with all of this _potential_ and _power_ and nowhere to channel it. But after meeting him, I was connected to Snoke through the Force. He spoke to me occasionally, asking if I was training or whatever, told me I should be. Told me that, with training, I could make a difference in the galaxy or be important somehow.”

“And? You didn't take him up on the offer?” Armitage was now completely caught up in this story. Not only was it an interesting glimpse into the one he'd only ever known as 'Supreme Leader', but it was an all new insight on Ben-- his childhood, his motivations-- and it only served to make Armitage that much more curious and enthralled. He'd never met anyone like this before, and already he had the sneaking suspicion that he would never meet another.

Ben looked up, focusing on nothing in particular. “I was still just a kid then. I asked my mom about it, once. Told her what had happened. She just got mad at my dad for letting it happen, didn't really have much to say about Snoke or the Force, it was just another fight for her and dad.” Ben shrugged, back to picking at the dirt from under his fingernails. “And when I asked her about training under Snoke, she just looked horrified. Or angry. Maybe both. She forbid me from being in contact with him, said he was bad news, dark sided, whatever. And it wasn't long after that that they sent me away to train with my uncle.”  
  
“Your uncle?” Hux asked, confused. “The Jedi Master?” He failed to see the resemblance between the short, sandy-haired man with the calm, serene smile and his tall, brooding nephew whose company Armitage had been enjoying all while advocating the First Order and the dark side.  
  
“Yeah,” Ben said, now stretching his long legs out in front of him. “But he doesn't encourage my power the way Snoke did. In fact, he discourages that kind of ambition, just like you said. It's the Jedi way. ' _There is no passion, there is serenity.'_ I thought mastering the Force as a Jedi would help ease my mind, to calm my insatiable desire for more. I was ashamed that I always wanted more. But you were right. Rejecting that desire is just an exercise in self-denial.” He paused a moment, then brought his legs back crisscrossed under him.

“Ha. Glad to hear you're finally seeing the light.”

Ben scoffed. “I'm seeing the light for what it is: weakness. Cowardice. The darkness is where true strength lies. Aside from Snoke, and now you of course, everyone who has ever known the strength of my power has been afraid of it. Everyone. It makes them uncomfortable. They've always wanted to limit me.”

Hux regarded him evenly. “And you've let them.”  
  
Ben made a face and looked out to sea. “Not anymore.”  
  
Pleased, Hux scooted ever so slightly closer to Ben so that their upper arms brushed against each other. Ben looked over his shoulder at Hux with a shy smile, putting his hand back in Hux's lap. Hux returned the smile and took Ben's hand in his own again, giving it a squeeze.  
  
“You'll meet with him, then?”  
  
“Yeah. He can teach me, I know it. He's told me so. He can make me strong, powerful. He's the only one who's ever really understood me. Well, until you.” Ben said, allowing his head to rest on Armitage's shoulder, his curly hair tickling his cheek. It smelled of sweat and sand and something addictive. Armitage resisted the urge to bury his nose in it and inhale.  
  
“I may not be attune to the Force,” he said. “But I can sense passion, ambition, and you have it, Ben. Like me, you were destined for greatness.”  
  
“Yes. I am. I've always known that, but sensing your conviction made me sure of my own. You've shown me that it's okay. And I don't want to go back to pretending otherwise.”  
  
Hux smiled, turning to hide his grin in Ben's mop of hair. “Together, then,” he murmured. “We can do great things together.”  
  
Ben sat up and faced Hux, grinning, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I'd like that.”  
  
Armitage leaned in to capture Ben's lips. Ben turned to face him full-on, hands finding their way to Hux's hips. As he licked his way softly into Ben's mouth, Armitage shifted, moving to straddle Ben's lap, a knee on either side of him. He shut his eyes and grabbed on to those ridiculously oversized ears as their kiss deepened. Ben's fingers gripped him tighter, pulling him firmly into his lap, pressed against him close. A soft noise escaped his throat as Armitage settled. He opened wider, sighing, when Ben's tongue pushed into his mouth. This kiss was different than the ones they'd shared last night. There was nothing hesitant, tentative, or shy about it. It had purpose. Passion. More passion than a Jedi should be capable of, in any case.

Lower, he could feel Ben's arousal already pressing insistently against him. Smirking to himself, he ground his hips into it, eliciting a moan from Ben. When he did it again, Ben's hands flew up to Armitage's sleeves, gripping tight as he buried his face into his chest, failing to stifle another groan.  
  
“Shh,” Armitage shushed as his hands slid into Ben's mop of dark hair, fingers tangling in the thick curls as they came to rest on the back of his skull. His thumb and forefinger caught on the braid in his hair and ran down along the plaits. Beneath him, he felt Ben's hips twitching, searching for more friction. Hux managed to keep just out of reach. “So when do you want to meet the Supreme Leader?” He asked and Ben whined, his hands coming around to claw at Armitage's back.  
  
“Maybe...” Ben mumbled into Armitage's shirt. He leaned back to meet Armitage's gaze, his eyes dark and pleading, pupils fat. “Later.”  
  
That faint flush was back on his cheeks. Hux grinned and leaned in kiss him again, settling back into his lap, giving Ben the friction he was so desperate for. The sun was only just now setting, turning the sky a brilliant orange-red as it fell into the horizon. They had time.

Armitage trailed a hand down to palm the bulge in Ben's pants. Ben gasped, his head tilting back to expose the pale column of his throat. Without taking his eyes from the boy's face, Armitage rubbed roughly against the tented fabric of Ben's trousers, watching his reactions: just as animated as he had hoped. He leaned in to mouth at Ben's neck as he fumbled with the buckle of his hide belt. Ben quickly moved his fingers in to help. Belt loosened, Armitage worked his hand beneath the layers easily now and into Ben's underwear, following thick curls of hair to wrap his fingers around his already leaking dick.

If Ben had gasped before, he full on whined now, his eyes screwing shut tightly as Armitage stroked him gently, sliding his slick foreskin along the shaft. He thumbed the dribbling slit on the head of Ben's cock, pressing soft kisses to Ben's throat each time he gasped. Ben's grip on Armitage's sleeves tightened and Armitage knew it wouldn't take long for him to reach his climax. _Lonely boy_. There was something deeply pleasing about knowing that he had conquered Ben's hard-learned denial of desire and passion and he relished every twitch and moan he drew from Ben as he continued to jack him off. He used his other hand to push Ben's underwear and pants out of the way. Quickening his strokes, Armitage sank his teeth into Ben's collarbone, sucking hard enough to bruise. Sure enough, Ben cried out and was coming soon after, panting in the wake of what was probably his very first sexual experience. Armitage kept his grip tight and firm as the aftershocks coursed through Ben's body, transfixed by how powerful even this seemed to feel.

He pulled back to take in Ben's post-orgasmic flush. Dark hair clung to Ben's sweat-soaked forehead, his eyes still shut, lips parted and breathing heavily. Maybe it was just a Force thing, but Armitage had never received such an intense reaction from a simple handjob before. It was intoxicating, empowering. He smiled and kissed him again, withdrawing his slick hand from Ben's trousers.

“Oh,” Ben said when he caught sight of the mess on Armitage's hand, blushing again. Gently pushing Armitage aside, he leaned over the side of the pier and cupped his hands, using the Force to pull water from the sea into them. “Here.” He offered the water to Hux, who couldn't deny that was a useful trick. He managed to wash away most of the mess and shook his hands dry.

“Do you want me to. Um,” Ben flicked his gaze towards Hux's crotch and swallowed nervously.

“Never mind. There will be time for that later,” Armitage said, trying to put concern for his own arousal aside for now. If these really were Ben's first forays into the world of sexual encounters, Armitage wanted to ensure they'd have enough time to work through the new experiences without feeling pressured or rushed. “We ought to meet with the Supreme Leader first.”

He couldn't tell if Ben's expression was one of regret or relief so he moved in to plant a reassuring kiss on his lips before standing. It seemed to work. “Come on,” he said, extending his right hand, which Ben took with a moony smile and then didn't let go of until they were almost all the way to the holochamber.

 

==


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...there was a story in here somewhere... where did it go... *rummages around*  
>  See end notes for a content warning re: this chapter? Is that how we do this nowadays?  
> uhhhhhh... *disappears again*

==

 

“Hux, wait,” Ben said, stopping abruptly and dropping Armitage's hand as the pair followed the darkened path up to the holochamber. “What if he says no? What if he won't let me join the First Order?”

Hux turned, frowning. He watched as Ben stood awkwardly, fingers clenching and stretching restlessly at his sides. “What do you mean? He explicitly told me to bring you to him. That you could be an asset.”

“And you're not just saying that, right?” Ben asked quietly.

“Surely you must know that I am not. You told me yourself he'd tried to reach out to you before.”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded, but didn't look convinced. He worried his lip with his teeth and stared at his feet.

Nervous. But why? Armitage sighed and took a step towards him, changing tactics. He'd realized over the past few days that it often took patience, and a fine-tuned approach balancing challenge with reassurance to get through to Ben effectively. “If he says no to you, then I'll speak to him again on your behalf. I have direct access to the Supreme Leader, after all.” Ben gave him an unconvinced look and Hux rolled his eyes, taking another step closer and placing his hands on Ben's shoulders. “Don't you know by now?” He asked with a half-smile as he leaned in to speak low into his ear. “I get what I want.” Ben's lips parted and Hux felt him practically shiver at the gesture.

Easing slightly, Ben brought his hands to Armitage's hips, drawing him closer and turning his cheek to press a kiss to the corner of Armitage's mouth, which Armitage leaned in to gladly. “Mmm,” Ben murmured over Armitage's lips. “Then how come you're not the Supreme Leader yourself?”

Hux raised his eyebrows, pulling back to put the smallest space between them.

“What?” Ben asked. “Don't tell me you haven't entertained the thought. I've seen the way you run this base, as useless as it is.”

Armitage frowned and Ben quickly shook his head. “Sorry. What I mean is, imagine running something bigger, more important. You'd be good at it, putting people here and there, where they best fit. You'd be a natural leader.”

“Ben.” Armitage said, unable to hide the coy smile taking over his mouth. It didn't surprise him that Ben could sense his higher aspirations-- perhaps anyone could guess as much-- only that he said it out loud, right here, just before the holochamber where they were to conference with the Supreme Leader himself. It was blasphemous, borderline treasonous. _One day_...

He moved back before he was tempted to take another kiss and entered the room, hoping the slight flush creeping up the back of his neck would not be visible in the blue transmission of the holo light.

“Supreme Leader, I have brought you the padawan, as requested,” Hux said, bowing as the holo came in to focus. Beside him, Ben stood, obviously out of his element, but perhaps less nervous than he had been just moments ago. Mimicking Hux, he slightly inclined his head. Hux winced at the poor form. He probably should have anticipated that, in hindsight. He silently vowed to instruct him on proper etiquette later.

“Ahh, Ben Solo,” Snoke said.

Ben took a step forward and looked up at the Supreme Leader's holo. “That's me.”

Snoke looked from Ben to Hux. “Major,” he said and Hux snapped to attention. “Leave us.”

Hux blinked, momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected to be dismissed so easily. Or at all, really. But he didn't dare show his apprehension, nor the uncomfortable mix of confusion and disappointment suddenly flooding him from within. He recovered quickly and nodded. "Yes, Supreme Leader." Chancing a parting glance at Ben, who looked equally as confused, he marched out of the room, trying to temper his peaking anxiety.

“Ben Solo. It has been some time,” he heard Snoke say, and then the door shut behind him, closing him off from whatever they were to discuss.

He exhaled. He supposed he would just wait here until he was summoned again. That made sense, right? Ignoring the trembling of his fingers, he pulled out his pack of cigarras and tried not to dwell on all the things his cool dismissal could mean.

It's not like he'd expected a reward for doing what has been asked of him, bringing Ben to Snoke, but he couldn't deny that surge of jealousy that flared up knowing that Ben was suddenly commanding all of the Supreme Leader's attention. As if him simply standing there, untrained and unassigned, was somehow already more impressive than any of the leg work Hux had done to bring him there.

Whatever, he told himself. He was being childish. Anything they were discussing, it was their own private business. If it were relevant to him, Armitage was confident Ben would tell him later. Right? Ignoring his lingering doubts, he assured himself that this would be the case. He would make sure of it.

He lit a cigarra and turned his thoughts away from pettiness and niggling anxiety by imagining Snoke assigning Ben a position in the ranks of the Order. He took a drag and began to relax again, exhaling slowly as his mind cleared. Where might a Force user go, though? He couldn't think of any precedent. It didn't matter; this was just a fantasy anyway. Ben would ask to be assigned to Hux's division, of course.

Hux and Ben getting along and working together would be for the good of the Order anyway, their unity strengthening the cohesion of the group overall, so Snoke should have no reason to deny them that. And Ben would become a finely tuned weapon in time, his powers perfectly honed, controlled, and he would willingly offer them to Hux to use as see saw fit. He took another drag and heard Ben's voice in his head, _Then how come you're not the Supreme Leader yourself?_

Fuck, was that really making him hard again right now? Of course it was, it had always been way with him: power, ambition, desire. He shifted, adjusting himself accordingly.

A warm breeze blew, making the trees creak. Supreme Leader Armitage Hux, he thought. He flicked his cigarra, letting this scenario play out. He would keep Ben by his side and continue to learn from him about the Force and whatever small amounts of information Ben could offer up about the Republic. Him being a senator's son could come in handy for this. And with his powers, Ben could be sent to gather intelligence or to terrorize their opponents into submission. He would bring Hux the skulls of his enemies and stand with him at the head of the galaxy, all others bowed before them. All in order. He smiled. The galaxy could be theirs.

Yes. That would show them all. Bastard son of a disgraced Imperial, ruling the galaxy alongside the man he had seduced away from the New Republic.

The thought of his father was a much-needed, instant distraction against his unsatiated arousal. Armitage dragged on his cigarra. His father had been known for being ruthless with those under his command and tutelage, and countless rumors had floated around regarding his wanton cruelty. Armitage knew firsthand those allegations weren't just rumors. He quickly took another drag. Though he strove to match, no-- exceed-- his father's efficiency when it came to commanding, he couldn't imagine putting Ben through the kind of training he himself had gone through. The thought alone made his stomach clench. He flinched, not wanting to think about this. Blissfully, before he could analyze, and over-analyze, these feelings any further the door opened beside him and Ben emerged.

Hux blew smoke from his lips and pushed all other useless thoughts aside. “Well? How did it go?” He asked, regretting how eager he sounded.

“I did it, Hux,” Ben said, his dark eyes glinting. A small smile played on his lips, excitement boiling under the surface. “I told him I'd join the First Order.”

Despite himself, Armitage couldn't help the grin taking over his own face, nor the excitement in his chest. “Well done! I told you it would be fine.” He stubbed his cigarra out on the wall just as Ben rushed up and threw his arms around him. Caught off guard, he faltered awkwardly a moment before allowing his hands to settle on Ben's hips. He hadn't forgotten how quickly Snoke had dismissed him, but he supposed that really wasn't Ben's fault and it would be stupid to pretend it was.

“He's going to train me in the ways of the dark side so that I can serve the Order.” Ben said with a sort of nervous laugh that betrayed his shining eyes.

His enthusiasm felt infectious. This was really happening. “Excellent.” Armitage smiled. “To which division are you assigned?"

"Division?"

“As in, where you will be stationed? What you will be doing?"

Ben shrugged in his arms. "I don't know. He didn't mention anything like that."

Armitage pulled back slightly to look Ben in the face, brows pinched together. Ben shook his head. "I can't start right away. Snoke says he's going to 'test my allegiance' first, so I'm going to have to stay where I am until the time is right, with my uncle. Then I can join the Order properly. Snoke will be in contact with me through the Force. I'm sure he'll tell me all that when I'm ready."

Armitage frowned. He should have known better than to expect immediate results, but with Ben everything just _seemed_ so immediate, it was hard not to. “How long will that take?”

Ben shrugged. “He didn't say.”

Armitage groaned. For someone who brooded as much as Ben did, he sure did seem to have a propensity for throwing himself thoughtlessly head-first into whatever direction his passing whim pointed him in. That suited Hux's interests for now, but recklessness rarely boded well long-term.

Perhaps Ben sensed his persisting apprehension, because he offered him a small smile. “Don't look so concerned, Hux. Snoke senses my power, my strength. He understands my potential. He said he knows things about me that my family has kept secret and he'll tell me. He'll train me in the Force. The dark side.” He paused there, but Hux only gave him a flat stare, waiting for him to go on. A muscle in Ben's mouth twitched. “All I've ever heard about the dark side is that it's evil, selfish,” he continued. “My uncle never taught me anything more about it. My mom all but refuses to admit it exists. But now's my chance. I'll learn the ways of the dark side.” He paused again, searching Hux's face. “And when I do, I'll use them to bring the galaxy to order.”

At that, Hux gave Ben a victorious grin of his own. The Force may have been solidly outside his scope of knowledge, but he recognized that the same propaganda line-- "evil"-- was pushed by Republic-sympathizers about his own First Order. So if the First Order and the dark side were to be aligned, all the better to take down their enemies.

Ben grinned widely, his eyes crinkling at the corners and Armitage leaned in to close the distance between their mouths. Ben opened for him easily, kissing back hard. A pivot and a step forward and Armitage had Ben pinned against the wall. Ben rolled his hips and Armitage had to swallow back a moan, instead letting it come out as something of a gasp before Ben delved back into his mouth. He was already hard again and, fuck, so was Ben; Armitage could feel him through the fabric of their clothes.

Ben's hands trailed down his back to his hips, fingertips pressing hard into the soft skin, pulling him closer to grind against him again. Armitage allowed it, one hand leaving Ben to brace himself against the wall, the other sneaking into the folds of Ben's robes.

"Hux," Ben whispered as Hux moved to nip at his earlobe. “Wait.”

"Shh."

“Hux.”

“Hush.” Armitage said, licking the outer shell of Ben's ear.

Ben shuddered, squirming beneath him. "Hnn, no, stop-- listen!"

Hux stopped and flicked his eyes to Ben's. Ben nodded in the direction behind him, breathing hard.

A sudden sound caused Armitage to whip around. Ben, short of breath, looked up as well as the sound drew closer. Footsteps.

“Oh-- fuck. That's my uncle. Shit,” Ben swore, eyes wild when Hux turned back to him. “Don't say anything about this. He can't know about this yet, Snoke or anything. He won't pry, but guard your thoughts.” Ben whispered urgently. Hux leapt off of him at once, straightening. Beside him, Ben tried to smooth down the front of his robe, hitching it up to cover the mark Hux had left on his collarbone earlier, anxious as his master drew nearer.

Armitage kept his mouth shut and adopted parade rest stance, one hand fisted over his heart, which was now racing wildly, though he knew there was no reason for it to. Perhaps Ben would be in trouble for being out, but it wasn't as if this Jedi could punish Armitage. The very idea was absurd. The man had absolutely no authority over him and still, he felt caught out. Exposed. He heard Ben swallow beside him, lips in a full-on pout. Armitage quickly adjusted himself and made a point to keep his mind closed off.

"Ben! What are you doing here?" The Jedi exclaimed, exasperated as he approached. "I've been searching everywhere for you."

"Hux was showing me around the base," he said. An unconvincing lie. Armitage felt his lips twitch.

"This late at night?" The Jedi looked between the two of them.

Ben opened his mouth to reply, but before he could find his own excuse, Hux cut him off. "I'm afraid I don't have much time off, and your padawan was interested to see the workings of the Order. I hoped to put some of his suspicions to rest."

"Suspicions?" The Jedi gave Ben a look of resigned disappointment. "Ben..."

"Sorry, Uncle," Ben said through grit teeth. "I know you told us to stay nearby, but I just wanted to make sure we could trust them."

The Jedi sighed deeply. "I _told_ you not to go interfering with their operations, Ben. We are _guests_ here to study the Force, not dignitaries sent to spy. The last thing we want to be doing is stirring up political tensions. Your mother is having a hard enough time with the Senate as it is, what would she say if she knew?” He turned to Hux. “Major Hux, may I offer my sincerest apologies."

"Apologies aren't necessary," Hux said, straightening even as his mind tried latching on to the idea of what, indeed, Ben's mother would say if she knew. "As I said before, we have nothing to hide, so no harm done."

He forced a smile and the Jedi looked between the two of them. Ben shifted uneasily. “What are you doing here, uncle?” He asked.

"Funny question coming from you, Ben.”

Ben looked flustered, then irritated. “I meant, why did you come looking for me? I thought you were meditating.”

The Jedi glanced quickly at Hux then gave his student a pointed look. Hux's attention piqued, getting the feeling that the man hadn't particularly wanted to discuss this in front of company. “I was. But I sensed some turbulence in the Force.”

“Turbulence?” Ben asked. Armitage looked from teacher to student. He couldn't help but wonder if this had something to do with Ben's plans to join the 'dark side', or whatever, but then mentally chastised himself for giving any credence to that nonsense. Just because he had seen Ben's powers in action didn't mean he had to subscribe to the more mystical aspects.

“Yes,” the Jedi answered, folding his hands and looking skyward. “The meaning is murky now, but it's not good. It is time we take leave of this planet. It will be easier to decipher this vision back at the Academy," he flicked his eyes back towards Hux for a split second. "I will discuss it with you further on our way back.”

Hux's heart sank and he very likely would have betrayed his own stoicism if Ben hadn't beaten him to the outburst.

“What? Already?! Now?” He risked a quick glance at Hux and back. “But I haven't finished my meditation here yet.”

The Jedi pulled a face, fixing Ben with another pointed look. “You haven't been making good use of your time, then. Your peers didn't seem to have the same problem.”

Hux watched as Ben's face darkened with a quiet anger. He didn't need the Force to read Ben's barely-bitten-back retort: _they are not my peers_.

“By all means,” Armitage cut in before Ben could incriminate himself further. “Feel free to stay as long as you need. It is no problem hosting you here, I assure you. The First Order welcomes it. If there is indeed... trouble ahead, where would be more safe than on a military base?”

He had meant that sincerely, but both Ben and his uncle were frowning at him, Ben especially so. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. He could feel the sweat accumulating at the back of his neck and on his temples and resisted the urge to dab at it.

“I appreciate the offer, Major, but--”

“Please,” Ben interrupted. “Uncle. Just one more day.”

The Jedi looked from Hux to Ben. “I fail to see what good another day here will do you.”

“I'll spend it at the temple.”

“We can discuss this back on the shuttle.”

“The whole day. I promise.”

“You're not the only one on this trip, Ben.”

“Master,” Ben pleaded. “Allow me one more day of meditation. That's all I ask.”

Hux resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably, unaccustomed to this debased New Republic style begging. It gave him a not-insignificant amount of secondhand embarrassment, perhaps a bit of disgust, to watch this display, even though it was for his own benefit, too. He, however, had little hope it would pay off and began wracking his brain for any excuse to keep them here longer.

“Ben...”

“Please.”

The Jedi closed his eyes and sighed again. Hux frowned, even if he grounded their shuttle, having this Jedi hovering around would make seeking Ben out alone almost impossible.

"It's late anyway, uncle, you ought to rest at least."

“All _right_ ,” the man relented, much to Hux's surprise, raising a palm to silence his nephew. “ _One_ more day, Ben. But you better spend it in meditation. We will leave at dusk tomorrow,” he said, turning back to Hux, “that is, if the Major accepts this.”

“O-- of course," Armitage said primly, still shocked that the man would give in to shameless pleading, but massively relieved to hear it. "Again, it is no trouble to us."

“We appreciate the hospitality, Major,” he said, turning to Ben with another pointed stare. "I suggest you start your meditation now.”

“Yes, uncle.” Ben cut his eyes back to Hux before he turned to leave. Hux wanted to tell him that it would be all right, they would figure something out, but he was acutely aware they were being watched and Ben had told him to guard his thoughts, so he kept his eyes locked on Ben's and gave a curt, barely noticeable nod as Ben stalked off, hoping that he could somehow still sense his intentions.

“I do hope he hasn't interfered with your operations here, having you play tour guide like that,” the Jedi said once Ben was out of earshot. “He means well, but he does have a tendency to get into... mischief. Gets that from his father.”

Hux turned back to him and cringed inwardly, knowing how Ben felt about his father. “Not at all,” he replied. “In fact,” he felt his mind start churning with the beginnings of a scheme, “If you and your other students would like to tour our facilities as well, it can be easily arranged.”

"Oh, I appreciate the offer, Major, but that won't be necessary. Our mission here--"

"No," Hux said, interrupting as the pieces slid into place. "I insist. I wouldn't want you to leave here with any doubts. Besides, it will give you something to do while he's..." Hux flicked his eyes in the direction Ben went. "Meditating." It was perfect, really. This base truly had nothing to hide. It ranked among the least impressive, least important bases in the Order. Its one function was to serve as a halfway point between long-haul cargo flights, nothing illicit, nothing suspicious. There were no resources to be mined here, no population to recruit, and absolutely nothing that would give away the massive scale of operations of the Order deeper in the Unknown Regions. Even the technology in use here was too outdated to raise eyebrows or concerns. Aside from himself, even the _people_ stationed here were among the lowest, laziest of the ranks. This base wasn't completely useless; it was the perfect decoy. This deployment had just become interesting after all. Excitement flooded his chest.

"I," the Jedi started at Hux a moment and Hux had to wonder if he was trying to read his mind. If indeed he was, his presence was far less demanding than Ben's. Armitage made use of the mental shielding technique Ben had taught him anyway. "Very well, Major. I suppose it could be interesting to see this planet from the First Order's perspective. I must stress, though, we are not affiliated with the New Republic, nor is this a diplomatic mission."

"Of course," Hux smiled. If that were true or not, Hux didn't care; it didn't matter. In fact, it would almost be better if he were lying. “Tomorrow morning, then,” he said. “I'll have my second-in-command show you and your other students around the base.”

“I look forward to it, Major,” the man nodded. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm afraid my padawan was correct when he suggested I should rest. It's remarkable how much meditation can take out of you."

 _Right_ , thought Hux. _It must be exhausting to sit around doing nothing._ But he said nothing, simply inclined his head and watched the Jedi take his leave.

Once he had gone, Hux exhaled, smiling to himself. This was all working out quite nicely after all. There was just one thing-- he turned and peeked his head into the holochamber again, hoping Snoke would be waiting for him, but the space where the Supreme Leader's image had been was empty. No matter, Hux told the sinking feeling in his gut, refusing to let this be seen as a bad omen. If the Supreme Leader needed him, he would be summoned. His easy dismissal meant nothing. Armitage could function without constant supervision. He excelled at it, actually.

Tomorrow, after the tour and once the Jedi and students had departed, Hux would be able to inform Snoke of how his clever ploy had deceived them. He would be back in favor, then. And Snoke would remember that it was he, Hux, who had lured Ben to their side. It was all going to turn out fine in the end.

Convincing himself of this, he retired to his dorm.

Most of his dormmates were already in bed, asleep and snoring, by the time he snuck back in and slipped into the shower quietly. He closed his eyes and let the cool water run over him, rinsing him of the day's sweat and grime. It felt good. He hadn't realized quite how exhausted he was. He stood in the spray longer than necessary, smirking a bit as the water dripped down to his fingertips, remembering how he'd had them wrapped around Ben's dick earlier, just before their audience. He brought his fingers to his lips and smiled. His cock was all but aching now at the memory of how Ben's face had contorted when he came, how enthusiastic he had been, so sensitive and responsive to the slightest touch. All of that raw energy, under Hux's command. He took himself in hand, considering beating off, just this once, but eventually decided against it and shut off the water instead. Pinching his eyes shut, he willed his erection to subside. He wasn't a complete animal; this could wait.

He dried off and redressed in shorts and a light regulation tank top, tip-toed to his bunk and slid into bed. The nights were only slightly cooler than the days, but there was a breeze tonight and he could only hope that meant the rains would be coming soon.

He pulled shut the bed's mesh curtain to keep out the biting insects and eventual early morning light and stretched out on his side facing the wall. What a day this had been. What a week this had been! Turbulent. That's what that Jedi had said, wasn't it? Ha. Hux supposed he was right in a way. And yet something told Hux that this was still just the beginning.

Above him, his bunkmate was snoring loudly. Many of the others stationed here wore silencers over their ears to help them sleep, but Hux always refused, concerned that it could hinder him in the case of an emergency. Once asleep, he could tune out the snoring, but it was a matter of _getting_ to sleep that was the problem. His mind was over-active recalling the day's activities and trying to plan for tomorrow's. He would arrange for the guests to be shown around while he snuck off to find Ben meditating at that temple. They would have at least a couple hours together, one last time. And then who knew what would happen after Ben left?

Suddenly, he was struck by the knowledge that tomorrow was really their last day together for the foreseeable future and went very still. Already he didn't want to go back to his mundane days doing next to nothing for several hours and then actually nothing until it was time to sleep, but there was more to it than that. He didn't want to lose Ben's company. At all. It was as if, in Ben, Armitage had finally found something he didn't even know he'd been lacking and now didn't want to let it go. It distressed him far more than he would have guessed, an ache growing in his stomach and his chest at the thought that by tomorrow night, Ben would be gone. Indefinitely.

What was happening to him?

He rolled over, cutting himself off from that line of thinking at once. He shifted to get comfortable in a bunk where such efforts were futile. More than ever, he couldn't wait to be off this base and onto something bigger and better, confident that his efforts here in the past few days would be rewarded someday. He flipped back over towards the wall after failing to quiet his thoughts. Several long moments later, just as he finally drifting towards unconsciousness, he heard someone else enter the room with heavy footsteps.

“Hux?” A voice whispered in the dark.

“What?” Hux grumbled, rolling back over, frustrated. What could someone possibly want from him at this hour? He reached to open his curtain, but before he could, it was being pushed aside and someone was climbing into his bunk beside him. Instantly, he sat up, raising his arms in defense, his heartrate skyrocketing. The curtain fell closed again and it was almost too dark to make out anything more than a faint outline of a figure, but before he could get a single word out, he found himself with a soft hand over his mouth.

"Hey, shh, Hux! Calm down, it's just me!" The voice said quietly-- Ben. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you could have sensed me through the Force, but I guess it only goes one way."

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Hux hissed when Ben finally withdrew his silencing hand. His heart was still slamming in his chest and it felt better to attribute it to fury rather than fear.

“Shh, it's okay,” Ben whispered back, holding his hands up and grinning, moonlight glinting off his teeth in the partial darkness.

“Like bloody hell it's okay! You can't be on this Base unsupervised at all, let alone in the dormitories, let alone in my kriffing bed! It's completely against all regulations!”

Ben had the audacity to roll his eyes before leaning in to speak directly into Hux's ear, his lips warm there and affecting Hux already: "I'm not forsaking the Jedi Code just to follow a bunch of other bullshit rules."

Much to his own dismay, Armitage's groin twinged involuntarily at that and any protest he may have had died in his lungs. Grimacing, he declined to respond, afraid they were already being too loud and someone would wake up with questions Armitage wouldn't want to answer. He raised his upper lip instead as Ben moved back to smirk.

“It's okay, Hux, really,” Ben insisted, speaking softly. "No one is going to know I'm here. I've still got the Force, remember?" He said, clearly pleased with himself. "If anyone wakes up, I'll take care of it."

Armitage glared through the darkness. "You would manipulate my people to excuse your own disobedience, then?"

"Sure." Ben replied flippantly, lying down onto his side. “Oh. Unless there's some rule about that, of course.”

Cheeky, arrogant prick. Armitage shut his eyes, annoyed that he was at least partially responsible for creating this monster, and even more annoyed at the hardness growing in his shorts. He drew his knees up to his chest and put his hands over his face, groaning. His heartbeat had calmed slightly, though he was still terrified he was going to be caught out-- by his own this time, not some religious fanatic with misplaced trust in his nephew. And then what would he say? His senses were keyed-up and on-edge. Every movement seemed amplified, ten times louder than it would have been otherwise. Even breathing seemed risky. Ben touched his leg lightly.

"What? Are you afraid I can't take care of it?" Ben asked, and when Armitage peeked open an eye to shoot him a glare, he found Ben looking hurt that he didn't have complete, blind faith in him.

Armitage sighed and paused momentarily, listening to assure himself that everyone else was indeed still asleep and unaware, before lying down again, stretched out beside Ben. Alarms in his mind were going off, but he paid them no heed.

Ben smiled again, eased now that he seemed to have some sort of unspoken permission to remain. The thought that that's what was happening irritated Armitage, but his annoyance was tempered by the closeness of Ben.

“Asshole.” He said even as he allowed Ben to scoot closer.

"I just wanted to see you,” Ben said, a big hand falling on Armitage's waist. “It's okay, right?”

“Well, it's too late for me to say no now, isn't it?”

Ben grinned. "Yes."

Grinding his teeth together, Hux exhaled and relented. “At least take your fucking boots off.” He kicked at Ben's feet with his own.

“Oh, yeah.” Hux felt the mattress dip and shift as Ben moved to pull off his shoes and stuff them under the bed. Hux hoped to the stars that no one would notice whatever the hell was going on here, closing his eyes in the dark as he waited for Ben to lie back down beside him. When he did so, it occurred to Hux that Ben was still far more dressed than he, with his long-sleeved robe and trousers to Hux's thin tank top and shorts. It was slightly humiliating, but Hux was not even about to ask him to remove anything else here. While his self-control was exemplary, he didn't want to push it. His dick was getting him into enough trouble as it was.

“Now what in the seven hells are you doing here?" He asked, speaking quietly when Ben was pressed up against him again. “And what of your uncle, the Jedi?”

“What about him? He's asleep. He doesn't know I'm here.”

“He won't wake up and come looking for you? I don't think he'll buy our story twice, if he even did the first time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm afraid he might see through the farce if he has the Force, as you say. He might already know your plans.”

“He doesn't.” Ben shook his head. "He wouldn't use the Force like that, and besides," he hesitated. "He... trusts me."

Trust. A dangerous thing. Armitage wasn't sure how gullible this Jedi was, but perhaps he really did trust Ben. Sometimes families were like that, Hux had heard.

Ben bit down on his lower lip and averted his gaze. Armitage touched his hair, running his fingers down along his braid. "Good," he whispered. “That will make it easy for you to hide your true intentions from him.”

Swallowing, Ben looked back up at Hux. He opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut and moved closer to wrap his arms around Armitage instead. Armitage put a hand at Ben's hip and pulled him near.

Ben pressed his nose into Armitage's chest and exhaled deeply. “I feel... guilty.” He mumbled.

“A pointless emotion,” Armitage said, running a hand down Ben's back. “You're on your way to becoming the person you were meant to be. People may get hurt, but there's no need to feel guilt over it if they were the ones standing in your way. Never apologise for actualising your true potential.”

He let the words sink in and relished the full-body sigh he received as Ben came to relax in his arms. Ben shifted and laid his ear against Hux's breast, his fingers plucking at the hem of Armitage's shirt.

“I wish we had more time together,” he whispered after a long moment lying quietly while Armitage held him.

Armitage drew Ben closer to him still. “I know,” he said. “But we still have tomorrow. I have arranged it so that your uncle and his other students will be taken on a tour of the facilities.”

Ben pulled back to peer up at him, confused. “What?”

“I will have Kyyshiv see to it and I will come seek you out as soon as I am able to escape. The base isn't big, nor does it have much to show off, but it should be able to buy us at least a couple hours to ourselves.”

“Hux!” Ben said quietly, shaking him gently and beaming. “That's perfect!”

Armitage smiled.

Ben shifted to wrap his calves around Hux's bare legs, brushing Hux's nose with his own. The look in Ben's eyes set Hux's skin ablaze. His chest swelled and his stomach flipped. “It's stupid, isn't it?” Ben said after a pause.

“What?”

“That I... care about you. Already. I don't want to leave and go back to a place where I can't come find you every day. It's only been six days. Ha. And you didn't even like me the first day.”

Hux sniffed. “Frankly, I didn't like you the second day, either.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Ben said, kneeing him hard in the leg.

“Ow!” Hux winced, glad his pained expression wasn't as visible in the dark. He returned the blow with an elbow to Ben's chest. “Jackass.”

“You started it.”

He felt more than saw Ben's smile as he swooned in for a kiss. Armitage let him take it, and a second, kissing him lazily as Ben's long legs tangled in between his own, the fabric of his pants scratching against his skin. He wished, not for the first time, that he could remove them, but his good sense kicked in and he moved back slightly, putting a small space between their bodies.

Ben was quick to move in and bridge the gap again. "This is the first time I've seen so much of you," he whispered, setting his forehead against Hux's and trailing his hands along Hux's bare arms. He sounded almost reverent. But that couldn't be right. Armitage frowned.

"What?" Ben asked. "I like it."

Hux didn't have the Force to assess the veracity of that declaration, but the easy smile Ben was giving him was enough-- he really meant it. Armitage didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't necessarily that he was insecure, but he couldn't think of a time before when someone had just looked at him and been impressed by what they saw. Even those he'd bedded in the past had seen him more as a means to an end, not something to admire. And that was fine; Hux had felt the same about all of them. But that's not how he was feeling about Ben now. He _liked_ that Ben liked the way he looked. Somehow, that was important. Somehow this was different. Everything just felt... bigger.

He shivered as Ben's hands slid beneath his sheer tank and he resisted the urge to squirm away. This was okay. By the soft moonlight that made its way into his bunk, Armitage saw Ben's brow crease slightly when his fingers traced over the old scars on his back. "You've seen combat?" He murmured over Hux's lips.

Armitage stiffened and Ben's hand stilled. Most people had the decency not to ask. Ben, of course, was not most people.

"Hux?"

Ben's thumb brushed over an old wound and Armitage shrugged. He'd seen combat, of course, but that's not where those scars had come from. He tried shifting so that Ben's hands were no longer over his scars, but Ben held him still, palms flat against his marred skin, pulling back slightly to look at him directly. "Who did this to you?"

"It was a long time ago," Armitage said in lieu of a real answer. “Never mind it.” He had really just wanted to savor this one nice moment, not be interrogated about something insignificant that happened to him as a child. He had decided long ago that these memories would be kept compartmentalized and repressed, not shared. He himself rarely acknowledged that it had ever happened.

Ben pursed his lips as he seemed to consider letting the matter drop or not. It didn't take him long to decide to pursue the topic, of course.

"If you don't want to say it... can I..." Ben looked at him intently, tapping his temple gently with his forefinger.

Armitage frowned and rolled his eyes. Again, a non-answer. But he felt that second presence in his mind, tentative at first, and found himself disinclined to kicking it out. This was indeed somehow easier than vocalizing what he'd never felt comfortable thinking about, let alone speaking about, and there was something almost exciting, though scary, about having someone to confide in, even in spite of that twisting feeling of shame present in his gut.

Setting aside his apprehension, he allowed Ben's presence to settle into his mind and willed himself to conjure up the memories he'd tried to hard to forget. His father, yelling at him. Saying how useless he was. How he shouldn't have been born. How his existence was a mistake. Scoffing as tears slid down his cheeks and smacking him until he couldn't get up, infuriated by his weakness. Taking off his belt and whipping him until he couldn't lie down properly, either. Five years old, looking at himself in the cracked mirror of some old sand speeder, his reflection with a black eye and split lip. Seeing only a disappointment. He had thin skin and it's not as though there was an abundance of bacta patches back on Jakku, of course he was going to scar.

Sometimes he deserved it, he'd thought, crying over something trivial, asking too many questions that didn't matter, existing in places he shouldn't. Other times he'd simply been woken up in the middle of the night and dragged outside to sleep in the cold ground, hoping nothing would come along and devour him. Those weren't punishments, his father had said. They were strengthening exercises meant to toughen him up and prepare him for anything. The punishment came if he tried to resist or protest.

He finally pushed Ben out of his head once regret and embarrassment caught up with him. This was stupid. He wasn't that child anymore, it already happened. It was in the past, it had served its purpose in making him who he is today, and so what did it matter now? But Ben was gaping at him in disbelief. "Hux,” he whispered. “You didn't tell anyone?"

Armitage flinched. Perhaps his visceral anger at Ben's innocent question was unjustified, but it still flared up nonetheless. “Tell anyone? They all knew. Of course they all knew. Brendol had never been shy about it. It solidified his reputation as someone not to cross. He smacked his own kid around in public, imagine what he'd do to someone else? They saw it, they heard it, and they turned a blind eye. They didn't give a shit, it wasn't their business. They had other things to worry about, didn't want to get in my father's way, afraid if they stood up to him, their own lives or careers could be jeopardised.”

He felt a rush of adrenaline just from the admission and Ben gave him a concerned look that made Hux's face flush, regretting that he had shared anything at all. He didn't need pity or sympathy now as a grown man who'd clearly made something of himself despite the adversary. Because of the adversary, perhaps. Hux should shove him away, say none of it had any affect on him, say that the brutality he experienced then is what's made him the successful young cadet he is today.

But Ben put his arms around him again and pulled him closer before he could do any of that, and when Ben's lips pressed against his temple, Armitage lost the will to fight back against the only thing that had ever really managed to break him: kindness. Hot tears pricked his eyes and he shut them tightly, going to bury his face before Ben could notice.

“I mean, I got a sense of something like this when I was in your mind before, but I didn't realize...” Ben trailed off. “How did you bear it?”

"It wasn't that bad." Armitage mumbled, not even sure how true that felt. The lasting scars on his back and the difficultly to talk about it seemed to say otherwise. He sighed, swallowing the lump in his throat. _Pull yourself together, Armitage._ He scolded himself and eventually recentered himself by telling himself that's what his role model would have done. She wouldn't be lying here crying into someone's chest; she would have taken her self-pity and forged it into a weapon with which to take revenge and take charge. Rae Sloane didn't save him so he could grow up into some pathetic crybaby. She had offered her protection so that he could grow into the finest leader the First Order could produce. He took a deep breath. “Eventually,” he said, happy to redirect the focus to her memory, “there was someone brave enough to do something. She had a sharp mind for justice and stepped in when no one else would.”

He still remembered how she'd beaten his father, had him crying on the ground beneath her obsidian boot, promising he wouldn't hurt his son again, and the uncomfortable mix of feelings he felt watching his father blubber and beg. Embarrassment, but also... satisfaction. He never told Sloane how grateful he was to her, or how he idolized her. Maybe he even loved her, in the way some children love their parents.

"Good," Ben said, snapping Hux out of his memories. He hugged him closer.

Armitage sighed in his arms, newly exhausted. It had been a long time since he had scratched beneath the surface of those memories, but he felt remarkably more calm than he would have expected.

"It makes sense now."

“What does?”

"I mean, it makes sense that you feel so strongly about inaction now. After," Ben let his hand brush feather-light over the old scars. "What happened to you."

Oh. Armitage shrugged again.

"It's why you have no patience for it."

Armitage didn't have to say it. He knew he was projecting his response with all the vitriol he had long harbored towards anyone who refused to take a stand against corruption for the sake of causing conflict or hurt feelings.

 _Precisely_.

Ben hugged him tightly. "Hux. I'm done being passive, too,” Ben said. “I won't just stand idly by as the galaxy is ruled by chaos any longer. I have power, true power, and I'm going to develop it and use it to help you, and the First Order, take the galaxy back from those who would do nothing while innocent citizens suffer. Together, we're going to bring this galaxy to heel.”

Armitage looked at him then, really looked at him as if he were seeing him for the first time not just as a tool to propel himself further, but as someone who would willingly, proudly march with him hand in hand into the bright light of glory.

Hux nodded. “And we will destroy the cowardly New Republic in the process.”

"Yes." His hand went to Armitage's cheek, fingers lightly brushing the few wisps of hair at his ear, and he leaned in. Armitage gladly accepted him into his space, lips parting as soon as he felt Ben's upon them.

 _Yes_ , Armitage thought as he smiled around the shape of Ben's eager mouth, _yes, this could be exactly what I've been wanting my entire life_.

He couldn't stop the soft moan he made when their tongues met, not even ashamed of how much he was enjoying this. Ben's arms wrapped all the way around him, his hands groping clumsily, hungrily. Hux's leg slid between Ben's again as he moved in closer, suddenly not wanting even the slightest space between them. Ben rutted up against him and he moaned. He had the front Ben's robes fisted in his hands, wishing he could tear the damn thing off and press against him completely nude, skin-to-skin. He was reasonably confident now that no one was going to wake up, and if they did, Ben could handle them, all of them, but Armitage still hadn't completely lost himself; if they were going to do this, he wanted it to be done right. He pulled back slightly and had to smile when Ben's tried chasing after him, eyes peeking half-open. Ben was giving him an imploring look, nodding intently.

He reached up with one hand and combed Ben's hair out of his face. “We can't do this tonight, not here,” he whispered over Ben's parted, wet lips. “But tomorrow, before you go, if you still want--”

“Yes, fuck, Hux, please,” Ben interrupted, tightening his grip on his hips and licking at his lips. “I want to be with you before I leave. I won't leave here without it.”

Something in his odd phrasing tugged at Hux's heart. Hux nodded, knowing Ben would feel it, and kissed him again, already feeling content, despite the lack of release.

“After I've joined the Order, I'm going to find you like this every night,” Ben murmured.

Armitage's chest swelled the prospect and he smiled into their slow kiss. As his tongue slid against Ben's he heard him sigh, fingers clutching at him tightly. When he pulled back again, Ben let him go, only pouting slightly. Armitage rolled over, again facing the wall and let Ben wrap himself completely around him.

Though the night was still hot and humid, somehow Armitage didn't want to miss this feeling of closeness, perhaps the only such contact he would have for a long time. He certainly couldn't remember a time like this before. One of Ben's arms snaked its way under Hux's neck, the other came to rest on his rib cage. Hux shifted to get comfortable and had to snort when noticed a telltale hardness pressed firmly against his backside. Ben turned his face and buried it into Hux's pillow, mumbling an embarrassed apology. Now smiling wickedly into the dark, Hux shifted again, purposefully rubbing up against Ben's erection as he tangled their legs together. Ben let out a muffled groan into the pillow behind Hux and squeezed him tighter. Hux had half a mind to continue his methodical torture, but he was already growing damnably hard again himself, and any escalation now would only wreck him as well. “Tomorrow,” he whispered and received another tight squeeze in response. He laced his fingers with Ben's and rested their hands against his chest as he slowly drifted to sleep feeling the rise and fall of Ben's chest behind him like gentle waves on the sea.

Hux woke only once in the night, finding himself overheated with Ben still clinging behind him. He rolled over facing Ben and put a bit of space between them. In his sleep, Ben moaned softly at the loss of contact but did not wake up. Hux reached back for his hand and took hold of it, smiling and drifting off again.

\--

  
In the morning, it was Ben who woke first, just before the sunrise began to illuminate the aqua sky and just before the first of the alarms were set to go off waking the troops.

"Mm," Hux mumbled when he felt fingers threading through his hair.

"Hux," Ben whispered softly, mouth warm on his ear. "I'd better go. It's almost sunrise."

With the haze of a deep sleep fogging his brain, Armitage's first reaction was to tighten his hold on Ben and grunt a soft protest against him leaving. The hours had passed much too quickly and he wanted to let go of Ben even less than he wanted to get up for work.

Ben laughed quietly and pressed his face into Armitage's hair, kissing him there. "I'll be at the temple, meditating. Come find me when you can. Please."

"Mmkay," Armitage said, barely managing to peek open an eye and watch as Ben quietly slid out of his bed and grabbed for his boots. Armitage reached out, hand falling limply onto the mattress and Ben smiled at him as he slipped his shoes back on. Redressed, Ben placed his hand over Hux's and let his thumb brush over Hux's knuckles. Armitage's eyes feel shut again and he smiled, slipping back into a peaceful sleep before he could fully register that Ben had gone. It didn't matter though, he knew they would be together again soon.

 

==

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for references/discussions of past abuse.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! It only took me a million years! I forgot what I was doing and just made it super long and gratuitously soft and pornographic instead, wahoOO! Don't look at me!

==

Armitage had been burning with anticipation all morning, ever since Ben had left his arms at first light. In spite of the urge to lie in bed, relishing the memory of sharing it, he had risen as soon as his alarm went off and dressed quickly. He knew this was to be the last day the Jedi travellers were here, and he didn't want to waste a minute of it. Everything he had wanted was beginning to take shape, so close he could taste it.

As soon as Kyyshiv sluggishly rose from bed and began his morning routine, Armitage was on him, informing him that he would be in charge of leading a tour of the facilities. If he was adverse to the task, Armitage couldn't tell; Kyyshiv seemed too sleepy to really do much besides yawn and agree.

"I need you to take your time," Armitage urged, trailing after him as he shuffled towards the showers. "Drag it out as much as you can. They must leave here knowing that the First Order has nothing to hide."

"Yeah, yeah, got it."

Armitage hated that he had to trust Kyyshiv to such a task, but, really, the man was just slow enough to make this work well.

He waited, barely able to reign in his impatience, as Kyyshiv finished dressing and joined him first for breakfast, and then on the walk to the command tower where they were to meet with the Jedi and his padawans.

 

 

"Major Hux," the Jedi said as he and Kyyshiv approached. “Good morning.”

"Good morning," Armitage replied. "I trust you slept well. This is Haccu Kyyshiv, my second-in-command, he will be showing you around the base today."

He watched as they shook hands, the master's padawans observing quietly, patient, polite beside him. No, Hux thought, Ben was definitely nothing like these other students. The thought pleased him, and also motivated him to action.

Excusing himself, he took leave, all but sprinting up the long pathway to the Jedi temple as soon as he was out of eyeshot. His heart was pounding in his chest as he crossed the island, trying to tell himself to reign it in. At one point he actually stopped dead in his tracks to school his face into a neutral expression. He was smiling too much and walking too fast. It wouldn't do to seem over-eager, a common slave to his emotions, however powerful they may be. He reached into his back pocket for his cigarra case and swore: in all of his haste to leave, he'd forgotten it. He considered turning back, knowing he had a spare in the radio control tower, but ultimately decided against it. He was well aware that Ben didn't like to wait.

Pressing on, finally, the old building came into sight.

"There you are," Ben said, pushing himself off of the boulder he'd been leaning against as Armitage approached.

Trying to pretend like he wasn't winded and drenched in sweat just from that quick trek, Armitage nodded. "Had to see to it that the others would be preoccupied while I slipped away."

Ben flashed his trademark goofy smile and Armitage couldn't help but to smile back, remembering how those crooked lips had felt on his just a few hours ago.

"Good," he said. "Come on, follow me. I want to show you something here."

Armitage nodded again, his chest buzzing with a kind of nervous excitement as he watched Ben duck inside the crumbling chedi of the old Jedi temple. _Calm down_ , he scolded himself, annoyed at his own excessive zeal. What was he becoming? He dug his fingernails into his palms and counted to three in an attempt to reign it in. At his side, his comm device buzzed. It was Snoke. Shit. Frowning, he looked back at the communication tower.

"Are you coming or not?" Ben called.

Armitage shoved the device back in his pocket. Fuck it. Snoke, too, could wait.

"Did you actually get any meditating done?" He asked as he followed Ben inside, mostly to get his mind off of what repercussions might come from ignoring a summons from the Supreme Leader.

"Yes," Ben answered, his voice echoing in the empty meditation chamber. He shrugged when Hux looked at him skeptically. “Some, anyway. It's never been my favorite Force-related activity.”

"I can imagine."

"Take your shoes off," Ben said in lieu of a response, pointing at Armitage's boots. Armitage hadn't realized until just then that Ben himself was barefoot, his own boots discarded by the archway leading into the inner chamber. He frowned.

"Surely that's not really necessary?"

Ben didn't bother responding, just waited for him to comply with the inane request. Biting back further complaints, Armitage knelt and did so, peeling off his socks as well and stuffing them into the boots, which he set up neatly against the wall. Barefoot on the stone floor of the temple, Armitage's toes curled. He was sure the ancient building was filthy, coated in the dust of a hundred generations.

He took a moment to look around. It wasn't that the site was off-limits to First Order personnel, but an out-of-the-way monument to a fringe dying religion was hardly worth the effort to explore. Who cared? Really, it was hardly more than a pile of crumbling bricks stacked high and covered with decades, perhaps centuries, of moss and lichen. The ancient walls were falling apart, the ceiling caved in in more than a couple places, the stone columns having done nothing to prevent this collapse. The air was thick and musty, dark foliage grew in the cracks between the bricks of the walls and floor and Armitage shuddered to think what crawling lifeforms could be lurking in the shadows. Looking around, he couldn't see what would possibly draw someone to a place like this. The building ought to have been condemned, not sanctified.

"Come on, I want to show you upstairs," Ben said, turning and heading towards a stack of stones that Armitage supposed might have once passed as a staircase. He wasn't thrilled about the prospect, and even less thrilled that he had to make the trek barefoot, but he tried to mask his apprehension as he followed along, not daring to look down at the cracked steps.

Talk about small blessings, it was slightly cooler on the second floor, thanks to a light breeze coming in through a large open window overlooking the sea. Hardly any less dusty, however, he couldn't help but to notice. And, beyond that, he still had his misgivings on the structural integrity of the building as well.

"It's fine, Hux," said Ben, indignant and clearly sensing Hux's skepticism. "Look," he pointed to small inlets surrounding the stone window. "They used to decorate these temples with kyber crystals." He pressed his fingers into the recesses in the stone. "Long gone now, but you can still feel their power."

Armitage arched an eyebrow, doubtful, and touched a spot where there had once been a kyber. Allegedly. He felt nothing.

Ben frowned at him. Armitage glanced around for a chance to change the subject.

A twig broom rested against one of the pillars, a pile of dirt and leaves beside it. “Doing housework?" He teased, pointing at it. "Perhaps you could get a droid to help. Stars knows the place needs it.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “It's symbolic, you nerf herder. Sweep away the clutter, clear the path for the Force to flow freely.”

“Jedi.” Armitage scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure why all of this Force business still bothered him so much, only that it did, and he wanted Ben to know that it did.

They stood in silence for a while, Ben looking annoyed, then thoughtful. “You really can't feel it, can you?”

Hux frowned. “Feel what?”

“The Force. It's so strong here. And you. You have such a strong energy about you. It just. Surprises me that you can't even feel it. That's all.”

“Well.” Armitage said pursing his lips, irritated. “I can't. So why don't you show me something I can see?"

Ben took a purposeful step towards him. Golden light from the exposed window cast half his face in shadow and he smirked. "You're such an ass, you know that?"

Armitage made to say some snippy remark, but before he could even formulate a thought behind the words, Ben surged forward to catch his lips in a kiss, hands settling on his waist. The kiss intensified, Ben's tongue insisting entrance to Armitage's mouth. He allowed it and quickly found himself shoved up against a wall, Ben's hands taking his and sliding their fingers together.

"What I'm trying to tell you," Ben spoke into his mouth between kisses. "is that the Force draws me to you, even if you can’t feel yourself. And I want you. So bad."

Armitage tightened his grip on Ben's fingers, barely able to pull back enough to speak. "Wha-- Here?"

"Yes." Ben's hands moved to Armitage's waist, pulling his carefully tucked First Order tunic out to slide his fingers up Hux's skin.

The indecisive, uncertain padawan of just last week was gone, replaced by a surging tide of desperate need. Passion. A hunger that Hux was keen to satiate. He was ready to spurn even the most sacred of Jedi tenants now. Armitage himself hadn't considered the idea of fooling around inside the temple before, but now he found the idea appealed to him greatly.

He allowed Ben's big hands to roam up his sides, lifting his tunic to expose his skin, already glistened with sweat. He stilled, letting Ben pace himself, going as fast or as slow as he felt comfortable. He breathed in slowly as Ben's thumbs rolled over his tightened nipples, palms flat against his breast. Ben's lips parted slightly as he inhaled. He looked up again to meet Armitage's eyes, swallowing hard.

No words were necessary between the two young men. Without looking away, Armitage brought his hands to the buttons on his tunic, unclasping them top to bottom, one by one. Ben watched, frozen, as he worked to divest the shirt. He'd managed to get it open, but not quite off, before Ben again seized him by the waist and pulled him in for another insistent kiss. Arms still stuck in the sleeves, Hux writhed to free himself as Ben whimpered into his mouth, kissing him greedily, his fingers pressing hard into the skin.

Finally Armitage managed to free one arm, using it to rip the shirt off the other and drop it before grabbing Ben's robes with both fists and pulling him flush up against him, kissing hard.

He could feel Ben's arousal already pressing hard against him. He ground his hips up against it shamelessly, drawing out a moan from deep in Ben's throat. Ben slid his hands down to Armitage's waist, one snaking around his front to cup the bulge growing in his pants. Armitage grimaced and sucked in his lip just barely managing to hold back an undignified noise of his own.

He fumbled for the fastenings of Ben's robes, cursing their inefficient design. Thankfully, Ben quickly moved in to help, unclipping the buckles of his belt and loosening the ties for him. Armitage smiled at him, working his hands beneath the layers easily now, and relishing the feel of Ben's developing abs under his fingertips. He might admit to having some fantasies about this before, but in practice it was better than he had imagined, for in his mind he hadn't accounted for the way Ben responded to every tiny movement with such awe and reverence, the way his pupils dilated as Armitage traced lines down his chest and torso. Armitage leaned in to nip at Ben's earlobe and heard his sharp intake of breath. It was nothing short of intoxicating.

Twisting his wrist, he slid his hand down slowly into Ben's pants, following the trail of thick hair back to his already very stiff erection.

“This is what you wanted me to see?” Armitage whispered into Ben's ear as he gently slide his fingers along Ben's foreskin.

“A- ah,” he stammered, apparently unable to form words, writhing and wriggling in Armitage's grasp. He resorted to nodding rapidly as he bucked up into Hux's hand gracelessly, increasingly desperate. "Mmhm."

"Take them off," Armitage commanded.

He moved away as Ben scrambled to push his pants and underwear down and ripped his own undershirt over his head, discarding it without regard for where it landed. He let his eyes trail down the contours of Ben's body, his robes disheveled and hanging open, cock hard, the head straining to poke out of its foreskin, already wet with precum.

"Wait," Armitage said when Ben moved forward to close the gap between them again. "You wanted me to see, so let me have a look."

Clearly torn between awkward modesty and a desire to show off, Ben covered his crotch with one hand, but slowly stroked himself with the other. Color rose in his face but he half-smiled. "And do you like what you see?"

Time felt suspended as Armitage watched, spellbound. The side of him that had long been hard-conditioned to be skeptical of a good thing still wondered if this was too much, too fast, if Ben's rash behavior was rubbing off on him already. This kind of full-throttle recklessness was antithesis to everything he'd been taught, everything he'd always stood by with his quiet schemes and patient plans. But when he looked back up and caught the fearless intensity, the open vulnerability, in Ben's penetrating gaze, Armitage made up his mind: he deserved this. He earned this. It was his, and he would have it.

“I do,” Armitage said, smiling more with his eyes than his lips. "Come here."

Ben moved forward awkwardly, his pants still tangled at his feet.

Ben began fumbling with the clasp on Armitage's belt, hands shaking. Armitage put his hands steady over Ben’s and moved to aid in unfastening the buckle as Ben had helped him with his. “Here.”

Belt undone, Ben managed to get Armitage's fly open himself, curling his fingers around the hem of his trousers and knickers to push them down. He let out a soft gasp when Armitage's cock sprung forth and reached out to brush his fingertips along it.

It had been so long, Armitage wasn't sure if he'd ever been this painfully hard in his life. Just the barest touch of Ben's fingers had his skin buzzing, desperate for more. He flicked his eyes up at Ben, who was just staring at him, transfixed.

Ben's eyes met Armitage's and he surged forward for another kiss, knocking their cocks together roughly, but Armitage found he didn't mind, his tongue coming to meet Ben's eagerly as it slipped between his teeth. No matter how intertwined they were, it didn’t feel close enough.

Pulling back, Ben didn't quite meet Armitage's gaze, instead pressing his forehead against his and letting dark hair obscure his face, his breaths coming heavy and labored again. Armitage could practically feel the anxiety swelling and radiating from him, tangible in his hesitation. Sighing, he reached up to touch Ben's arm.

“What's the matter?” He asked, softly.

"Nothing." Ben shot back, grimacing and flinching away. "Don't patronize me."

Armitage frowned at Ben's sudden sharpness and dropped his hands back to his side, trying to decide how best to proceed. Perhaps the boy wasn't as ready as he was trying to seem. If Ben was having second-thoughts, the last thing Armitage wanted to do was pressure him into something he would later regret, and resent, but neither did he want to-- as Ben had accused-- patronize him. Ben wasn't a child; he was a young man, a powerful one, and one who was more than capable of making his own choices. He bit his tongue and waited patiently.

Ben ground his teeth together. “Hux. You know. I... I've never. With someone else...” he stammered, then stopped completely, almost angry. But at what?

Armitage could guess where he was going with that. "Quiet. I know," he told him. Ben swallowed and looked away, ashamed. Armitage reached out to touch his face again, forcing Ben to face him and reject his embarrassment. "I have no wish to harm you, Ben. You just need to be open with me and clear in your intentions." Ben's shot him a glare and Armitage curled his fingers under Ben's jaw, tiling his chin up and confessing: "If this is what you want, I am more than happy to give it to you. If you’ve changed your mind, we can stop. But you must tell me. You know I can't use the Force to parse your desires the way you do mine."

At that, Ben relaxed, his confidence boosted by the reminder that he had a skill set of his own that Hux lacked. The hit to Hux's pride at having to admit such a thing was insignificant compared to the surge of affection he felt coming from Ben as his nervous smile returned.

Ben leaned into the touch at his cheek, turning his head so his lips met the heel of Hux's palm. "It makes you jealous. That I can do these things that you can't. Doesn't it?"

Hux set his jaw, but knew it would do no good to lie. "It would make my life simpler if I could ransack people's minds or fling obstacles out of my way at will to get what I want," he admitted. "But then again I suppose it's more impressive that I can accomplish so much without some magical energy field to assist me, is it not?" he finished, smirking at how Ben's face changed.

Ben rolled his eyes, but Armitage could feel Ben's length hardening against his leg just the same. "Yeah," he said, leaning in, "And besides, now you have me to do the rest for you."

The erection he had been willing to subside as he tried to tend to Ben’s needs, surged back to life at this fresh reminder that he had won, had corrupted a Jedi and was being given free permission to wield him like a weapon in order to satisfy his desires. Something inside him caught fire, melting as Ben kissed him again, but just as he began to lean into it, Ben pushed him back gently with a hand on his chest.

“Here,” Ben said as he pulled away, taking Armitage by the hand and guiding him over to a shadowy corner where he sat down, bare assed on the floor. Armitage must have looked mildly horrified, because Ben rolled his eyes and shrugged off his robes, spreading them on the ground underneath him. “Happy?” He chided, brushing the dirt off his ass and sitting atop his clothing.

Armitage raised an eyebrow. Ben was nothing if not surprising, his brazen strangeness often at contrast with his awkward shyness. Still, there was something about it. Armitage still suffered to admit, even to himself, that he was charmed by this mismatched paradox of a person, but as he knelt to straddle Ben's lap, he found it harder to deny the truth. Ben was like a puzzle Hux had only begun to figure out, but one he suspected he could enjoy spending a very long time trying to understand completely.

"Always so loud up here." Ben grinned, tapping two fingers to his temple.

Armitage grit his teeth and batted Ben's hand away. He moved closer to crawl on top of him, intentionally brushing his cock against Ben's to watch as Ben winced, enjoying the delicate balance of pain himself. A leg on either side, Armitage settled onto his lap, kissing him deeply again until he felt Ben's gutteral sigh in his own mouth once more.

As they kissed, Ben's hands began to travel freely down his back and bare arms, trailing lightly over old scars. Embarrassment still lingered and Armitage resisted the urge to recoil as Ben’s fingers slid to his soft belly and up his skinny chest.

"Relax," said Ben, resting his thumbs on Armitage's small, hard nipples. "I told you, I like it."

Hux swallowed, feeling the pit of his stomach tighten the same way it had last night when they'd laid together in his narrow cot.

"My whole life, I've never met anyone like you," said Ben with a note of wonder in his tone that Armitage knew couldn't be faked.

"I could say the same for you," he replied quietly, letting himself touch the hard muscle of Ben's chest. "As soon as I laid eyes upon you, I knew I had to make you mine." With one hand, he reached up to give Ben's braid a soft tug, "Forbidden or not."

Ben narrowed his eyes. "Liar. You would have taken any of us padawans."

Armitage smirked. "Hmm, that might have been true the first day. But my casual interest in the others quickly fizzled out when I realized they had nothing to offer me."

Tilting his head, Ben still seemed skeptical. "Oh, so you only like me because I have something to offer you, is that it?"

Amused, and almost impressed by Ben's uncanny ability to twist his words around until they were wrung of meaning, Armitage put on a sarcastic grin. “Ah, you finally caught on?”

Ben sneered and rolled his eyes, but Armitage quickly shushed him with a finger over his mouth before he could speak and leaned in to whisper: "So show me what you've got to offer."

Like a spark catching fire, the intensity in Ben's eyes flickered and changed. He seized Armitage by the waist, jerking him forward and crashing their lips together viciously.

Armitage had yelped in surprise, but the noise was captured in Ben's open mouth. He was rapidly stiffening again pressed up against Ben's belly, and he rutted shamelessly on the smooth muscle of his abs as Ben groped his ass. Ben snuck one hand between them and tentatively took Hux in hand, the slightest pressure of it sending shockwaves of pleasure through Hux's groin all the way up his spine. Armitage was quite sure that if even this was as far as it got, that would be enough.

He felt Ben smile and pull back just a bit. "No. I want to do more.”

Armitage smiled, running his fingers through Ben's hair and tucking a lock of it behind his big ears. "Did you have something in mind?" He asked, pulling back just far enough to watch Ben's face.

"Whatever," Ben said with a shrug, faux casual and full of bravado, voice a little too loud in the empty room.

Arching an eyebrow, Armitage pursed his lips to avoid grinning. “You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?”

"I've seen things. I know."

Armitage didn't want to ask if that meant pornographic holofilms or simply voyeuristic mind-reading, though he certainly had his guess. "Very well then. Let's put your dutiful studies to the test, shall we?"

Ben's lips twitched and he ran the tip of his tongue over the lower one, but he said nothing further.

Debating his next move, but ultimately deciding to forge ahead and make any necessary corrections later on, Armitage gave Ben's cheek a slap-pat before turning and grabbing for his trousers. He felt Ben's attention on him, more curious than apprehensive, as he fished around in his pocket and pulled from it the vile of lubricant he'd taken from commissary while no one was looking.

"I brought this, in case it comes to it," he told Ben, handing him the bottle. "But we'll only go as far as you feel comfortable. There are plenty of other things we can do, and there is no need to rush into everything all at once, of course."

Ben's lips parted as he took the vile, staring at it. The crease in his brow deepened and he looked back up. "I'm leaving tonight, I don't know when I'll see you again. This is our only chance, so I want this. All of it. I'm not leaving here without it."

He had considered this as a likely response from the impatient, emotion-driven boy and took a breath. "Ben," he started, as evenly as he was able to. "Please be sure you want this. You don't have to impress me, I won't be disappointed if you're not ready yet."

Ben looked back up at him with a ferocity in his eyes that rooted Hux to the spot. "I am ready," he insisted. "I'm serious. I want this. I want you, and everything you'll give me. Hux, please."

"In that case," Armitage said quietly, feeling his chest tighten again. It wasn't even the words so much as it was the look in Ben's face that made Hux trust him, completely. As foreign as that sensation was to him, he found he didn't want to fight it. Not even a little. "Ben, I will give you anything you ask of me," he said, because somehow that was true now. Somehow this wasn't just about getting what _he_ wanted anymore, but giving back as well. The suddenness of it alarmed him, but he wasn’t about to second-guess himself when it felt so right, so good.

Ben leaned forward to give his lips a quick peck as he took both Armitage's hands in his own, lacing their fingers together. He even had the audacity to looked pleased with himself, the brat. "But, um." He started, glancing at the container of lubricant that sat between them. "Like. Uh. Who is going to do what?"

Armitage snorted at the phrasing, relieved to do away with some of this building tension, half of which he was surprised to find was coming from himself. Since when had he been nervous about this sort of activity in the past? It had been a while since the last time, but even still, this wasn't the sort of thing he normally got nerves over. He attempted dispelling his own anxiety by tweaking one of Ben's nipples and watching him flinch. It worked, a bit. "Do you think you'd have a preference?" He asked. "I've tried both ways and find either can be enjoyable."

It was true. Technically. He'd stuck his dick in a couple other cadets back at the Academy, but in honesty, he'd only received once. An irrational fear and borderline-shame had prevented him from trying for until one night, following a heated fight with his father, he'd gone out specifically to get absolutely shit-faced drunk and wrecked by some anonymous man several years older he met at a bar specifically designed for facilitating such encounters.

He almost laughed at the memory now. It had been, well, not exactly _good_ , but precisely what he had been looking for that night. He'd hurt for two whole days after, telling himself he deserved that ache. So, yes. It hadn’t been pretty, but he’d enjoyed it. And he never saw that man again, either. Probably couldn’t even pick him out of a lineup. It was perfect, really.

Ben's expression quickly darkened. "You don't have to remind me you've done this before," he shot.

Armitage gave him an incredulous look, not wanting to believe he was really doing this. “Ben!”

“What? You're the expert," he quipped, the last word dripping with such sarcasm that Armitage’s jaw dropped in protest. “I'll leave it to you.”

Armitage snapped his mouth shut again. In retrospect, he probably should have guessed Ben would be the jealous type. He couldn’t deny that he also wasn’t one for sharing, but this was simply irrational. “Are you honestly getting upset that I fucked maybe three or four people before I even knew of your existence?”

"Ugh. Forget it,” Ben said, still scowling. “It's not important.”

Armitage took Ben by the chin then, stern, forcing him to meet his eyes again. "That's right. It's not. What matters is here, now. Not the past. Let that go. Everything that happened before only happened to bring us to this point. Do you understand me?"

The anger that had been visible in Ben's face relented slowly. He dropped his gaze, nodding. Armitage, relieved to watch Ben relax in his grip, leaned in to press a reassuring kiss to his cheek. Even despite his words, there was a small part of him that was thrilled knowing he would be the first to experience this padawan, and a part that lamented he could not return that thrill. But what he could offer was the kind of confidence and guidance that only came from experience. He'd learned a few things first-hand in the Academy that he only wished he'd known before, and that practice would now go towards making Ben’s first experience the best it could be. This symbiosis would only strengthen their coupling as far as he was concerned. He hoped Ben understood that.

Ben took in a steadying breath and let it out slowly. He was still pouting a bit, but considerably more at ease. “Okay,” he said. He chewed on his lip and nodded again. “Okay.”

"So," Armitage said, moving back. "I’ll ask you again: do you think you'd have a preference?”

“No." Ben shrugged. "Whatever. I can do anything, too.”

Armitage raised an eyebrow at him, unsure if Ben was being honest or if he was trying to prove something he didn't need to. "I already told you, you don't have to impress me, Ben.

Ben didn't back down, however, fixing him with a determined look that only made Armitage want him that much more, any which way; he wanted it all. “And I already told _you_ , Major. The details are your responsibility.”

At that, Armitage smiled, happier still when a cooling breeze blew through the room and ruffled Ben's hair. "Very well then," he said, leaning in to brush their lips together, "I’m sure I can come up with something agreeable to us both."

Ben took hold of Armitage's hips, his fingertips digging into the soft skin there as he kissed him deeply. Ben’s mouth was so soft against his own, Armitage wondered if he would ever tire of this sensation. He smiled and felt Ben smiling as well. _These damnable lips_ , Armitage thought. _No, I will never get enough of them_.

“Mm, actually,” Ben said, moving back. “I just had an idea.” Armitage watched as he shifted to push himself up to his knees, using one hand to brush the dirt from his ass. “Can... I try something?” He asked, looking embarrassed again the instant the words were out.

Curious, Armitage inclined his head."Of course."

“Can I... get into your mind? Like, actually. Like before.”

Oh. That hadn't exactly been what he expected and he frowned, conflicted. He wasn't sure he wanted Ben in his mind during this, his most vulnerable state, especially given that he was already having much stronger feelings than he had anticipated and it was interfering with his efforts to stop projecting. He was only just beginning to trust this padawan, and this was a step he didn’t know if he was yet ready for. "Is that necessary?"

Ben's face softened. "As you know, I've never," he stopped to center himself, his lips twitching. "All of this is a first for me," he continued, more steady this time. "If you allow me into your mind, I can read your thoughts to do this right."

"Ben. You don--"

"Don’t talk down to me,” Ben interrupted. “I’m not a child. I know what I’m doing. Well. I mean, I don’t. Fuck, you know what I mean. Let me do this. Please.”

Armitage swallowed. He still felt apprehensive, but Ben had always taken care to not hurt him before or pry too far. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt. It might even be easier this way, if he were being honest with himself. "Go on, then."

Just the simple act of being given permission seemed to put Ben at ease again. His eyes fell shut and that light pressure in his mind made his presence known in Armitage's mind, spreading a vague warmth inside his skull once again. He wasn't sure if he could ever really get used to it, but for now, he welcomed it in.

“You want to feel my mouth on you,” Ben said.

A spike of arousal shot straight through his cock and Armitage felt himself flush. “Did you really need to get into my head to know that?”

Ben opened his eyes. “Stand up.”

His dick jumping at the prospect of what was about to happen, Armitage did as asked, clamoring to his feet and standing just before Ben, whose tongue had poked out to moisten his lips.

With a shaky exhale, Ben reached up and put a hand on either side of Armitage’s hips. He stuck out his tongue and gave the slit of his cock a short lick. Fuck. Armitage was going to lose it already and Ben had barely touched him. He gasped as Ben rolled his tongue in a lazy circle around the entire head, moaning as Ben parted his perfect lips and took him in, mouth wet and warm. Ben looked up through his dark eyelashes at him again before taking him even deeper, feeding off of the mental cues Armitage was subconsciously providing. He sucked eagerly on the head, offering up small appreciative noises that fueled Armitage's arousal.

“Oh. Fuck,” Armitage breathed, his eyes falling shut, a hand at his mouth to stop himself from saying more. Ben's mouth was hot and tight around him, a perfect heat sucking him in. At some point he couldn't remember, both of his hands had found their way to tangle in Ben's hair, balling into fists as Ben swallowed him hungrily. Ben hummed again around his dick, cheeks hollow as he worked the shaft deeper, hands wrapping around the back of Armitage’s thighs.

He was nothing if not eager, using his powers to ensure Armitage enjoyed this. The idea of using the Force for such a purpose would have made Armitage laugh if he wasn’t already so absorbed in how good it felt. The sound Ben made in the back of his full throat seemed to acknowledge this, which somehow only made the whole thing that much more erotic.

Armitage groaned, his balls tightening, back arching, as he was pushed towards the edge with the knowledge that Ben was doing this for him, using his powers for _this_.

Climax rapidly approaching, Armitage shut his eyes and tilted his head backwards. Just as he thought he was approaching the point of no return, Ben pulled back.

Armitage's eyes snapped open and he looked down in confusion, desperate. Ben's lips were obscenely fat and red, slicked with spit and smiling faintly. The sight of it was almost more than Armitage could bear at this point.

"Fuck, Ben," Armitage said, too far beyond himself to correct the needy desperation in his tone. "What--? Why did you stop?"

"Hux?" Ben said softly, gently rubbing either side of Hux's legs. "Will you..."

"Fuck," Armitage whined, his eyes falling shut again. He was so painfully hard he could hardly form coherent thoughts. "What? Anything. Just. Fuck."

When Ben didn't reply away, Armitage sighed. He counted to three to recollect himself before peeking his eyes open and looking down at Ben again. His face was flush, eyes glossy and dark. "Will you make love to me, Hux?"

Genuinely surprised by the phrasing, Hux barked a laugh. He knew Ben hailed from the New Republic, but the sudden sentimentality still somehow caught him off guard.

Ben looked away, glowering, and Armitage regretted his involuntary response to such a genuine request.

"Ben!" Armitage said, starting to come back to himself now that his dick wasn't the only thing demanding his attention. "You must know I wasn’t laughing at you. I've just... Never heard it called that before."

"Well. Whatever." Ben mumbled, still looking sullen and not meeting his gaze.

Armitage sighed. "Ben, please. I wasn't making fun of you. You were just in my head-- read me if you wish!"

That seemed to reassure him, at least and he shrugged it off. "Whatever you call it, I just want it. You. Inside me."

"Ben," Armitage said, crouching down eye-level with him. "I told you already; I will give you whatever you desire.”

Ben swallowed and nodded, his fat lower lip poking out and making Hux want to run his tongue along it again. Ben blinked and looked unfocused at a spot on Armitage's chest. "Then. Will you?" He said, more of a plea than a question, then flicked his eyes back up at Hux.

"Of course." He moved aside to allow Ben space, feeling his heart swell as Ben awkwardly repositioned himself on his back, keeping an eye on Armitage as he did so, his expression plainly asking for reassurance.

Armitage went to him immediately, wanting badly to provide him with the comfort he needed. His hands were on either side of Ben's face, grabbing him by the ears and pulling him into a kiss as he took his place between Ben's legs. Ben whined as Armitage's tongue slid against his. It was intoxicating, tasting himself in the mouth of another. It fueled his desire, making him feel powerful, like this mouth belonged to him as well. It was being offered to him, and he was going to take everything he could, accepting everything that came with it gratefully. He drank in Ben's unguarded sighs before pulling back.

The corner of Ben's mouth twitched upwards, nervous, but excited.

"Get me that, would you?" Armitage said, pointing. Ben's eyes followed the line of his finger to the bottle of lube, which had somehow rolled halfway across the floor. He raised his hand and the vile came zooming straight to him.

Ben handed it over, looking proud.

“Show off.” Armitage smirked at him as he took the bottle and slicked up his fingers and dipped them in between Ben’s asscheeks. “I’m going to use my fingers first, to make it easier later.”

Ben swallowed. “Okay.”

“Try your best to just relax. I’ve got you.” Very slowly, Armitage pressed the tip of his forefinger inside, up to the second knuckle. "How is that?"

Ben wriggled against the intrusion. "It feels weird."

"Should I stop?"

"No!" Ben practically shouted. "Keep going. Just. It's different when you do it."

"You've done this to yourself before?" Armitage asked, surprised.

Ben shrugged.

Armitage grinned. "Is that a yes?"

"I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe once. Once or twice."

Armitage leaned over him to whisper into his ear.

"What a naughty boy you've always been, then," he said, slowly adding a second finger. "No wonder you're so keen to turn from the Jedi path."

"Fuck," Ben panted, writhing. "You can't. You can't say things like that."

"Can't I?" Armitage retorted. "I ought to have you doing this, showing me just how bad you really are."

Ben peeked open an eye. He brought a hand of his own up to his mouth, sucking on his first finger, then slowly, he reached down to his groin. Armitage made to withdraw his hand, but Ben grabbed him by the wrist.

"No," he breathed. "Keep it there."

Mesmerized, Armitage watched as Ben worked a finger in alongside his own two. Ben took his lower lip between his teeth. Armitage swore under his breath.

Ben huffed a quiet laugh. "Enjoying the show?"

Armitage nodded dumbly. Ben squeezed his eyes shut and held back a whimper as he worked his finger in deeper. His dick was hard and bright red, curved up against his belly and leaking obscenely.

"Ready?" Armitage asked, voice hardly more than a whisper.

Ben nodded, exhaling shakily as he removed his hand. Armitage withdrew his fingers, too, wiping them on Ben's flank as he sat back on his heels.

"Here, bring your knees to your chest like this," Armitage suggested, repositioning Ben's legs. Ben took hold of the backs of his legs and glanced back up at Armitage. He looked nervous again, breathing shallowly as Armitage lined himself up.

“Breathe,” Armitage said, calm but firm. Poised on the edge of Ben's entrance, he hesitated. As ready as he was, he couldn't bring himself to do it yet, not with Ben looking as uneasy as he did. Unlike Ben, he was capable of restraint. "Are you sure you are ready? I won't ask you again."

Ben clenched his jaw and returned eye contact, impatient and back to his borderline anger now. "For fuck's sake, Hux. I'm sure. Stop treating me like I’m fragile just because I’m inexperienced and do it already. _Please_. I want this."

Armitage huffed a laugh and leaned over to kiss his neck as he began to push in slowly. _Patience, Ben_ , he thought, knowing Ben was still in his mind.

"Fuck, Hux," Ben panted, hands grasping at Hux's bare shoulders as he began to sink in. "I just. Want you. I want all of you. Entirely."

"You shall have me," Hux whispered in return, alternating between licking and nipping at Ben's exposed throat. "Entirely."

As he continued to press in, Ben squirmed beneath him, face contorted in what Hux hoped was some amount of pleasure with the discomfort. Armitage went slowly, and Ben groaned as he slid in the rest of the way. Fully inside, Armitage paused to let him adjust. Ben was breathing heavily beneath him, eyes screwed shut, his arms still wrapped tightly around Armitage's neck. He looked… perfect. So wanting, and so giving. Now, overwhelmed with stimuli, physical and otherwise, Armitage could hardly tell where one ended and the other began. They were two halves of the same whole. Overcome, he rested his forehead against Ben's and gasped.

"Fuck," he breathed raggedly. Unbidden tears pricked his eyes. None of his previous sexual encounters had ever felt anything like this. With Ben, everything seemed so much... bigger, more important, he felt _connected_ , in ways that were more than just physical. Ben peeked an eye open and attempted a half-smile before craning his neck up to kiss Hux on his open mouth. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to hide his grateful moan as Ben’s tongue slid along his. Ben's hands found their way to his shoulders, sliding along his moistened skin. Dropped his head back to the ground, Ben looked up and smiled weakly.

"Are you okay?" he asked. It was ridiculous, Hux should have been the one asking that, but he was suddenly so beyond himself he could hardly form a coherent thought.

"It's unlike you to be at a loss for words," Ben said with a watery smile.

"Shut up," Hux whispered, his eyes falling shut before they could leak embarrassing tears. This wasn't how he'd ever pictured this going. It was too slow, too tender, and he was feeling far too much. He just wanted to give, everything he had, knowing that Ben was returning it all in equal measure, balanced. He felt Ben run his fingertips along the scars of his back and suddenly, he was flooded with warm energy.

"Is... this the Force?" Hux asked, voice hardly more than a breathy whisper.

Ben gave a weak laugh. "You can feel it?" he said, his voice quavering with his shaky smile.

Armitage couldn't respond; he didn't know. He took in a deep breath, trying to recollect himself before attempting to move. Ben kissed him again and Armitage returned it as if it were a way to tell him how special he was without resorting to words, infusing it with all the passion and desire he'd been forcing himself to hide for years. Yes, Hux thought. This was absolutely worth the risk, worth the initial uncertainty, even the embarrassment he endured when Ben read his mind or picked at his deeply repressed emotions. As if every choice he had made up until this point had been unknowingly made specifically to get him to this point. Something like destiny, maybe. Hux had never believed in that nonsense before. Of course, he hadn't believed in the Force, either. But nothing had ever felt better than this, Hux was convinced, and nothing would ever feel better than this. He pushed in again with a soft grunt.

“Fuck, that feels so good,” Ben whined into his mouth. “Don’t stop, Hux. More. _More_.”

Armitage obliged. He reached between them to wrap a hand around Ben's dick, eager to see to his needs first. Ben spread his legs wider as Armitage dragged his thumb slowly over the tip of his cock, back arching up off the floor. Hux made his fist tight around him and began stroking quicker, harder. He savored how Ben writhed in his grasp, a panting, mewling mess beneath him. Leaning forward, he thrust in again and sucked at the sweat on Ben's neck, nipping just hard enough to hurt.

"Yes," Ben breathed, hips snapping up into his fist. Armitage kept his grip firm as Ben raced towards his climax. With a shout, he came hard over Armitage’s fingers, spilling over his hand, spurts of cum going everywhere-- on himself, on Hux, on the hard floor of the temple he once considered sacred.

“Shit, shit,” Ben panted as Armitage worked him through it. "Fuck, Hux. Fuck."

Ben’s reached up to Armitage’s face and forced him to meet his lips for another kiss. A tremor began at the base of Hux’s spine and he felt his testicles tighten. As he moved inside Ben, who went on kissing him sloppily through soft moans and gasps, he knew he wouldn't last much longer. But they would have more time for this again, later, after Ben joined the Order. When their enemies had been subdued and the galaxy was theirs.

"Yes, _yes_ ," Ben panted into Hux's open mouth, hands clawing at his back. "Ours, Hux. _Ours_."

“Unf, Ben, I’m going to--” The last bit of restraint left him then and Hux came suddenly, hard, his cock spasming as it emptied.

Ben gave a stifled gasp. "Was that," he whispered, "Did you just--?"

Breathing heavily as his vision returned, Armitage met Ben's half-lidded gaze. His heart swelled at the sight of him, wrecked with sweaty hair clinging to his face, and he couldn’t speak. He nodded faintly.

“Fuck, that’s so hot.” Ben smiled lazily, looking so damned pleased with himself, Armitage could do nothing but smile back.

Armitage craned his neck to press a kiss to Ben's lips. Softening now, he slipped out of Ben easily as he moved. He propped himself up on an elbow and rearranged their discarded clothing into a small pillow-like pile. Shifting himself out of Ben’s arms, he took a seat atop it, leaning his bare back against the wall. The cold stone felt good on his sweat-soaked skin. As he looked out the open window towards the sea, he desperately wished he had his cigarras now. Next to him, Ben lay sprawled out, exhausted.

“Come here,” he said to Ben, patting at the ground in front of him.

Sleepily, Ben did as told, shifting over to sit in the space Armitage had made for him between his legs. He pressed his back against Armitage's chest, his head flopping back to rest against Armitage's shoulder. Armitage hooked his chin over Ben's collarbone and just held him, giving him time to recover, boneless in his arms.

"All right?" He asked softly.

Ben nodded lazily. "I could feel how much you enjoyed that, on top of everything I was already feeling. It was... intense.”

Armitage kissed the side of his neck. A part of him wanted to tell Ben that it had been intense for him, too, but he didn't bother: Ben already knew.

As Ben sighed contentedly in his arms, Armitage slowly let his hands roam along his body. Absently, he ran his fingers over Ben's moles, connecting them with invisible lines and thinking of how they reminded him of stars in the sky. It brought to mind the conversation they had had the first night they sat together, where Ben pointed out the Arkanis system. Hux had imagined taking it back for the Order. That was just mere nights ago. It had been but a week since he had met Ben at all, and so suddenly, the entire orbit of his universe felt shifted, as if he already had something more important to him than the allegiance of his home world. He did, he told himself. He had Ben, and with Ben, he had the weapon he could use to get Arkanis, and every other system, under the reign of the First Order.

"Hux?" Ben said, craning his neck to look at Hux's face. “What are you doing?” It snapped him out of his reveries and Hux stopped moving, his fingers frozen on the small cluster of marks just under Ben's collarbone. Slowly, a moony grin took over Ben’s face.

Armitage huffed. "Would you get out of my mind?"

"Why?"

"Because!" He said lamely.

Ben laughed again and shrugged lazily. "I like it. You find it embarrassing to say these things out loud, but I like hearing what you think about me."

"I think you're an absolute brat, is what I think." Armitage retorted, poking Ben hard in the ribs.

"You're so weird," Ben said, turning sideways in his arms to rest his ear on Armitage's ribcage. Armitage could hear the fondness in his tone, feel Ben's smile on his skin. He relaxed and leaned back against the wall of the temple.

"That’s rich coming from you."

"Shut up."

Relaxed, satiated, and comfortable, Armitage closed his eyes. He could feel himself drifting towards sleep as he listened to the sound of Ben's breathing slow and even out. He tried to fight off the encroaching drowsiness, but after all the recent late nights and the peace he'd finally found here, now, there was no fight left in him.

 

  
It was he who blinked awake first. Even with the cushion of their clothes, the position had grown slightly uncomfortable. Armitage didn't want to move quite yet, though; Ben was still sound asleep and heavy against his chest, body rising and falling in an even rhythm as he snoozed. Armitage peered out the open window, wondering how long they had been here, how long they'd been asleep. How long they had left.

If he could reach his uniform trousers, he could check his comm device. Not wanting to wake Ben, Armitage got a wild idea. He’d seen it done enough, surely it couldn’t be that hard. He had _felt_ it, after all. He held up his hand and concentrated, willing his uniform trousers to come to him. He concentrated hard, begging them to obey, but now he felt nothing, and nothing happened. Sighing, he put his hand down.

“Mm, that’s not how the Force works, you know,” Ben mumbled sleepily, sticking his own hand out. Armitage watched, feeling foolish, as Ben’s invisible magic worked again. “Sorry, you’re still stuck using me for all your Force-related needs.”

“Hmph.” Armitage took his trousers and dug around in his pocket, pulling out his comm.

Another missed summons from Snoke. He frowned, anxiety creeping through his skin.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Whatever,” Ben replied, sitting up and scooting back to sit against the wall beside Hux. From the corner of his eye, Armitage could see him wincing slightly as he settled himself on his ass, but chose not to comment on it. He’d been as gentle as he could be with Ben, but it was only natural that there would be some lingering discomfort. He hoped it wasn’t the kind of ache Ben would regret.

He scooted closer to press his side against Ben’s, knocking their knees together. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” Ben smiled, returning the gentle push.

Ben tilted his head back to rest on the wall and closed his eyes again, concentrating. He opened his eyes a few moments later and relaxed. "They're still on that tour. My uncle thinks it's boring. And he isn’t impressed with your colleague. Ha. But he's trying not to be rude."

Armitage looked at him. "You can read him all the way from here?"

Ben shrugged. "He doesn't guard his mind half as well as he thinks he does. Besides, we're family. I know him pretty well, so it makes it easier."

Ben rested his head on Armitage's shoulder as they sat, staring out over the ocean. The wind had picked up a bit, for which Hux was grateful.

"Do you think," Armitage started to say before he could stop himself. He paused, but decided to continue when he felt Ben's curious attention on him. "You could get to the point where you could read me long-distance?" Ben sat up, fixing him with a dumb grin that made Hux regret even asking that question. "If I were to let you, of course," he added in a mumble, looking away from Ben and back out the open window, hating that he still wanted the answer to be yes, regardless.

"I will," Ben said. "I will, Hux. I’m going to train hard in the Force, master it. From the dark side. But by that time, I hope we won't have to be long-distance."

Armitage slid his gaze back over to Ben and was unable to fight the smile. He held his hand out for Ben to take. Enthusiastically, he did so, lacing their fingers together and bringing their hands to his lap as he laid his head on Armitage's shoulder again.

"Thank you," Ben said. "For showing me. For this. For everything."

"You don't have to thank me," Armitage said, giving Ben's hand a squeeze. He reached for Ben's jaw with his right hand, bringing their lips together again, mouth opening as Ben's tongue licked its way inside.

Rapidly developing energy for a second round, Armitage moved to climb into Ben's lap, running his fingers through Ben's hair as he did so. Ben melted at the touch and snaked his hands around Armitage's waist to pull him closer. He whimpered again, and Armitage drank it in, always thirsty for more.

Armitage could feel Ben's dick hard against his ass.

“Hard again already?” he noticed, flashing Ben a smirk as he made sure to rub back against it.

Ben grimaced and nodded.

“Insatiable," he chided, even in spite of his own erection steadily filling out. "What are we going to do with you?”

Ben grinned. "I can think of a few ideas."

"Is that so? Do tell.”

“Go again?”

“Ha. You should probably take it easy after your first time," Armitage told him. "You're likely to be a bit sore for a day or two."

"Ugh, I think I already am now," he said with a sigh, shifting a bit on his ass. "But I'm still... unh, you know."

“Desperate?”

Ben nodded.

Armitage snorted, then leaned forward to kiss him again, still not sick of it. "Well. How would you," he said, speaking it into Ben's mouth like a whispered secret. "like to switch positions?"

A keening noise came from deep in Ben's throat and he rutted against Armitage's bare ass, nodding wildly as he kissed him again.

“Here,” Armitage said, moving back and reaching over for the jar of lubricant. He dabbed his fingers into the vile and used it to slick Ben's dick for him while Ben continued to stare, transfixed. He watched sweat drip down Ben's temple. His small needy noises at even just this made the corner of Armitage's lips rise.

He pushed himself up to his knees and dipped his fingers back into the lube, using it to prepare himself this time. He braced one hand on the wall behind Ben and winced as he added a second finger. Ben turned his head just slightly to kiss the inside of his wrist, unable to take his eyes off Armitage's face as he worked himself open.

Against his wishes, the slight sting of it when he tried to add a third finger reminded him of the last-- the only-- time he’d taken someone else inside of him, that night in the backroom of the bar. That was the last time he’d had any sort of sexual encounter, in fact. It wasn’t that he had any regrets about that night; he’d wanted and gotten exactly what he'd been after, even enjoyed it, but the sheer recklessness of it gave him pause for trying again. As well, there was a lingering sense of shame for how much he had liked it, and thus hadn't dared to venture back into that kind of territory since. It was dangerous, rash. He was well aware that, in a way, so was any entanglement here, with Ben. But in other ways that mattered more, this time, here, now, was completely, entirely different.

Ben looked up at Armitage with pouting lips, puffy cheeks, and pleading eyes, undoubtedly reading that whole flashback from him.

"It is different," Ben declared, confirming Armitage's suspicion and taking his own dick in hand. "I promise. I'll show you."

Armitage withdrew his fingers and reached back to wrap his hand around Ben's dick as well, guiding him into place. “Well then, if you’re so sure,” he said, feeling Ben's wet tip at his hole. "Please do."

He started to press down slowly, sucking in a breath through his teeth. It really had been a while, the stretch burning as he took Ben in. His eyes pinched shut as he slid down halfway.

“Oh, fuck--” Ben gasped.

“Good?” Asked Armitage, peaking an eye open. Ben's face was fully flush already, pupils fat and glazed, jaw slack. It amused him, knowing that Ben was already this undone for him.

Ben huffed. "Like you look any more composed yourself, _Armitage_. Fuck, half the reason I'm so turned on is by how you look all out of uniform and messy like this."

Feeling himself blush, Armitage smiled and looked away, lying a hand on Ben's chest as he lifted himself back up. "You're even bigger than I had expected, and I'm, ah. A little tighter. We'll have to take it a bit slower."

He reached back for the jar of lube, but suddenly Ben sat up so quickly Armitage lost his balance and nearly fell over.

"Can I do it?" Ben asked.

Armitage eyed him a moment before flipping him the bottle. “Be my guest.”

Ben slicked his fingers eagerly and reached around to grope his ass, feeling around clumsily for his hole and eventually resting the pad of his middle finger over the rim. Though Armitage failed miserably at keeping his face neutral as Ben began to slide his first two fingers in, he took some solace in the fact that Ben couldn't keep a straight face, either, staring up at him with open reverence. "It's... You're... so hot," Ben said. “Fuck.”

Armitage groaned, draping his arms over Ben's shoulders as Ben worked his fingers in deeper. His dick was leaking obscenely between them. This was already lightyears different than last time.

“I want to make this good for you, like it was for me,” Ben said, putting his mouth on Armitage’s belly as he added his third finger. “I want you to know what it feels like.”

Armitage groaned again shamelessly and turned his head to hide his face in the crook of Ben's neck. He felt Ben's smile at his ear, his breath warm there.

“Okay?” Ben asked, and Armitage nodded dumbly.

Ben withdrew his fingers and wrapped them around his own cock, bringing it back in line. Sitting up, Hux could feel how rock-hard Ben was at his entrance. He took a deep breath and pressed back down, taking him in easier this time and sliding all the way down in one go. Fuck, it felt good being stretched and full like this. Even much better than the last time he'd tried it when he'd hurt for days after and told himself he deserved that ache. With Ben fully inside him, he tilted his head all the way back and shut his eyes, breaths comings in sharp pants.  _Perfect_.

Ben whimpered. “Oh, shit, Hux. I'm--”

“Shh,” Armitage shushed, not moving. "Try to hold out just a bit longer."

"Fuck, Hux, I don't think I can. I swear, if you so much as move, I might come."

Armitage tried to keep his lower half still, instead looking back at Ben again and reaching up to give the braid in his hair a tug. "Blank out your mind," he suggested with a delerious half-grin.

Ben squeezed his eyes shut and whined. "You're going to kill me."

Armitage hummed and began to slowly gyrate his hips, working into a steady ryhthym. He doubted he would be able to reach his own climax just from this, but he wanted Ben's first time to be good, and he couldn't deny how good it felt for him, too. So much better than before.

"This," Ben rasped as he bucked his hips upward, trying to hold fast onto Hux, though their sweat-slicked skin made it difficult. " _This_ is what you deserve, Hux."

"Yes," Armitage murmured, leaning into Ben's embrace and mouthing at the moist skin of his neck as Ben fucked into him. "What _we_ deserve."

“Ahh-- Hux, I'm---” Ben cried out, eyes screwing shut. He threw his head back and swore incoherently. Armitage clenched hard on Ben’s dick as Ben thrust up and came hot inside him. "Fffuuck."

Armitage leaned forward to suck on Ben's collarbone. “I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose,” he said.

"Sorry,” Ben said, pink-faced and breathing hard. “I wanted to last longer.”

“Nonsense.” Armitage shushed him. “Don't be disappointed. You did very well considering it was the first time you'd ever fucked someone.”

Ben scowled at him. "Don't say it like that."

The sharpness in his tone surprised Armitage, but he quickly recovered and smiled, brushing a sweaty lock of Ben's hair from his face. "Sentimental idiot," he said, placing a grateful kiss to his lips.

“Obtuse jackass,” Ben countered, letting his tongue in. Armitage was still quite hard, his dick jamming into Ben’s stomach as they kissed. Ben pulled back slightly to run his fingers along the shaft. "Mm, you didn’t get to come," he said with a frown.

"Stay there," Hux commanded breathlessly, grabbing himself and giving it a few quick pulls. "I can finish like this, with you inside me."

He rested his forehead on Ben's shoulder as he began to stroke himself quicker, hoping he could bring himself off before Ben had softened too much inside of him.

Ben held onto him, a hand at the back of his head as he panted into Ben's neck. Racing towards his orgasm, he was only dimly aware he was mumbling nonsense syllables. His vision started to white out and he came suddenly, all over Ben's chest, shouting something that sounded like Ben's name. Ben hugged him tighter against him and Armitage sighed in relief, not even caring about the mess. He might not have lasted very long, but Ben’s eager willingness to please made it, without question, the most gratifying sexual experience Armitage had ever had and he was sure that from here on out, anyone else would pale in comparison.

As he started to come back to himself, Armitage glanced up to find Ben just looking at him, calm.

Ben grinned. “It's too bad we weren't practicing this all week instead.” He said, then laughed. "My uncle would kill me if he knew I was here doing this now. With an officer of the First Order, no less.”

Armitage groaned. "Please tell me you weren't thinking of your uncle during sex."

"What? Ew, gross, no way. I just meant. Fuck you, you know what I meant."

Armitage snorted.

Before he got too comfortable again, he clenched his ass and he slid up off Ben's softened cock. He could feel Ben's spend drip from him as he moved and flushed, surprised with how much he… didn’t mind the sensation.

He turned and squinted out the window. The clouds were darkening. Thunder rumbled. Was a storm approaching?

“Shit. We should probably get going.” He said, not wanting it to be true. “I’m afraid we don’t have time for another nap.”  
  
Reluctantly, Ben let him go. He sighed, leaning back against the wall and watching as Hux picked up his clothing from the floor, brushing off as much dust from his uniform as he could.

A complicated cocktail of emotions bubbled in Armitage’s gut as he redressed. If not for that, he might have been more disturbed by the creases in his trousers or the dirt on his knees, but as it was, the only thoughts he could properly formulate were of regret that this was coming to an end so soon. He stepped into his underwear and pulled his trousers up over them, rebuttoning the fly.

Ben had folded his arms over his bent knees and was resting his chin atop them, looking miserable when Armitage glanced back down at him. Armitage felt his heart ache. He tried to tell himself that it would only be a temporary separation. That Ben would be joining the Order at some point. That they would be working together in the hopefully not-too-distant future, for the sake of righteous galactic stability. For each other. That no matter how much time passed between now and then, Ben would come back to him and they could have this, still. Longer.

But how many times had he heard things like that before? How many promises had been made to him and later broken? Would Ben get cold feet once he was back around his people? Would Ben simply disappear from his life the way others had in the past? How long could Hux wait? Hux was willing wait for Ben. He was known for his quiet patience, but to Ben, patience did not come so easily. Eyes suddenly stinging, Armitage blinked and looked away, feeling like a lead weight had dropped into his stomach.

He retrieved his undershirt and shook it out, hearing something metallic hit the ground. Eyeing the thin chain that held his dogtags, he bent to pick it up. They must have come off with the shirt. Funny, he hadn’t even noticed. He ran his thumb over the imprinted letters of his name: _A. Hux_.

"Here," Hux said, turning and handing it to Ben.

Ben stared at it, then up at Hux.

"Go on, take it." Hux urged, moving to drape the chain around Ben's neck. "I can always request new ones. Force knows how many Kyyshiv has somehow managed to lose on this island."

Ben took one of the tags in hand, running his thumb over the letters in a mimic of what Hux had just done, looking as if he had just been given the most precious gift. It pleased Hux to think that might be the case, but knowing that Ben came from the Core Worlds, Hux was sure he had received much better before.

Ben shook his head and looked back up at him, eyes glossy as if on the verge of tears. Hux sincerely hoped he wouldn't spoil the moment by crying.

Ben bit his lip and looked down again, wrapping his whole hand around the tags. "I don't have anything to give you in return."

"It's all right." Hux shrugged. "It would just be taken from me once I reported back to my division. Not really supposed to have personal affects in the Order. Not as a junior officer, anyway."

Ben looked up again. "Can I at least write to you?"

"Write?"

"Letters. I don't usually have access to high technology when I'm with my uncle, but I could send you mail the old-fashioned way."

Hux snorted. How quaint. "As tempting as that would be, it's probably not the best idea, either."

Ben looked put out, but Hux hoped he understood. He wished he could, but it just wasn't feasible. And, worse, it could be a liability. For both of them, maybe.

"I'll write you anyway." Ben said, speaking as if issuing himself a command. "I won't mail them, but I'll write them and keep them for you until we see each other again."

A wild urge seized him then and Armitage crouched down, taking Ben's hand in his own and squeezing it tightly. "Please tell me you'll come back," he said before his better sense could stop him. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, afraid now that he was too far gone. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He was supposed to have won Ben over to his side, tamed him like an attack dog, not be sitting here, falling apart at the thought that he could lose him now.

"Of course I will, Hux" Ben said, as if it were just that easy.

Armitage swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He rubbed his thumb across Ben’s knuckles and willed himself to retain a neutral expression. “We should really go before someone comes looking.” He said, moving to stand.

Ben, however, didn’t let him go, instead pulling him back into his lap. "I don't want to leave you," he said. “Not when you’re so sad.”

With a sigh, Armitage gave in and let Ben hold him. “I will come back, Hux,” Ben told him. His tone had gone from sweet to firm, but he hugged Armitage close. The metal of Hux’s dogtags was cold between their chests. “You'll see me again," he insisted, pulling back to look Armitage dead in the eye. “I swear it. And when we’re reunited, no one, nothing will stand in our way.”

His confidence was infectious, seeping into Armitage’s bones like medicine, a home remedy for his heartsickness. Armitage could almost-- not, not almost-- he _did_ believe it then, that it wasn’t just someone saying words that sounded nice, but for once, someone genuinely believed he was worth coming back for and would raise hell to make it happen. They would see each other again, he believed that. “Then I look forward to the day,” he returned.

Ben leaned in and kissed him one more time, his mouth warm and welcoming when Armitage’s tongue slid into it.  _Mine_ , Hux thought to no one in particular. To the entire universe, maybe. _He’s mine_.

Both were breathing hard as they broke away. Armitage licked his lips and nodded once. This time when he moved to stand, Ben didn’t stop him.

As he collected his remaining clothing, Ben rose and picked his own up off the floor, shaking out the robes. It had gotten noticeably cooler in the past several minutes, a fact for which Armitage was most grateful as he began refastening the clasps of his tunic. The wind was blowing in stronger now and the sky had definitely darkened.

Stuffing his comm and the half-empty bottle of lubricant back in his pocket, Armitage watched as Ben pulled his robes over his head and tucked the dogtags securely under the folds. He waited until the glint of metal disappeared beneath the fabric before turning and heading downstairs to retrieve his footwear, Ben following closely in his wake.

Once back in full uniform, his cool military demeanor took charge again, and he gave Ben a single brisk nod before marching himself out of the temple, heading towards the docks. He almost lamented that Ben followed him out without further protest.

  
\--  
"Well, this has certainly been interesting, Major Kyyshiv," Hux heard the Jedi master saying as he and Ben approached.

“Major Hux! Right on time.” Kyyshiv said upon seeing him. "I’ve just finished showing our guests around the Base here, and now it looks like it’s about to rain! Can you believe that? We’re almost outta here!” His eyes slid over to Ben. “Where have you two been?

Hux maintained a neutral expression, remembering to throw up mental shields to block his thoughts from projecting. Kyyshiv wouldn't be able to tell, but he knew other present company might. Armitage wondered if the Jedi’s time spent in meditation strengthened any mind-reading powers they might have and, being unable (and, quite honestly, unwilling) to keep his recent encounter out of his head, instead devoted effort to put up more mental blockades. From the corner of his vision, he saw Ben quirk a smile at him. "I came upon Ben finishing his meditation and I asked him to show me the Jedi temple before he left. I thought it would be educational to hear about it from someone who studied the art."

"Ha. And _was_ it educational?" Kyyshiv asked sarcastically.

"Quite." Armitage shot Kyyshiv a sharp look commanding, not suggesting, that he shut the hell on up. It didn't matter that they were the same rank; Kyyshiv cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

The Jedi master was eyeing the skies, seemingly uninterested. "It does look like rain, all right," he said, looking from the clouds to Hux. "Major Kyyshiv was saying your deployment ends at the first rains. You must be looking forward to the change.”

“Change is often necessary,” Hux replied. “And I am quite looking forward to what the future will bring, yes.”

The Jedi fixed him with a pensive stare. “Hm, yes.” He turned back to his nephew. “Ben, you have finished your meditation, is that right?”

Ben nodded, working his jaw but not meeting his uncle’s eye. The boy had a terrible poker face, Hux thought to himself. It would get him in trouble one day if he didn’t learn to mask it. “Yes, uncle.”

“All right, then. Good. Unless anyone else has any last minute things they need to do here, it’s probably best we take our leave before the storm hits. We've been here long enough.”

The other students shook their heads obediently. Hux felt his chest constrict tightly, knowing this was the end of something that had only just begun. Repressing it, he straightened his spine and set his jaw. “Excellent. Yes. Best not to delay. The weather here is known to be volatile, particularly during the changing of the seasons,” he glanced over and caught Ben giving him a longing stare. The look froze him to the spot.

The Jedi looked from Hux to Ben and back again. "Shall we?"

Hux snapped out of it and nodded once, “Right then, follow me.”

Hux and Kyyshiv escorted the party down to bay four where they had parked their shuttle.

The Jedi master stood apart, his hands clasped in front of him while the other students boarded the shuttle behind him. “I appreciate the hospitality, Majors,” he said. “And I thank you for the tour of the facilities. It was interesting to see first-hand what the Order has been up to. As ou must know, there is so much... noise out in the larger galaxy, it’s important to see the actual faces behind the operation.”

Hux forced a smile. “I assure you, the First Order works with the best interests of the galaxy in mind.”

The Jedi did not reply to that.

“Well,” Kyyshiv said, eager to be done with this and back in his bunk, relaxing. “I suppose you’ve all got a long journey ahead of you...”

“Yes, indeed, Major Kyyshiv,” the Jedi replied. “I hope we didn’t put you out too much.”

Kyyshiv balked. “Ha, nonsense. We never even saw you!”

The Jedi smiled serenely. “Yes. It's almost as if,” he said, passing his hand in front of Kyyshiv slowly. “We were never here.” Kyyshiv’s eyes unfocused and Armitage knew instantly what was happening. He’d heard of this kind of trick before. This is what Ben had done to Kyyshiv earlier this week. “You will return to Tower Control and grant us permission to launch,” the Jedi commanded. “After we depart, you will remembering nothing of our visit. If the others ask, you will tell them it was a training exercise from your High Command. You never saw any of us.”

Armitage watched as the eyes of his infantry mate remained glazed over, unseeing, as he vacantly repeated the commands. Armtiage felt a steady buzzing warmth blossoming in the center of his mind and instantly worked to block it, quickly scanning for Ben, who must have already boarded the shuttle. He didn't want to have these memories taken from him. Already his mind was starting to feel hazy and light. _Think of not thinking. Blank out your mind!_ He urged himself, a command much harder to obey in a state of panic. The Jedi turned to stare at him. Hux drew his eyebrows together, prepared to fight with everything he had in him to keep his memories safe.

“Uncle Luke!” Ben called suddenly, just as the pressure in Hux’s head began to ramp up. He came running up beside his uncle, putting his hand on his arm. “Don't forget your lightsaber!” He looked at Hux in wide-eyed horror.

The pressure in Armitage's mind relented as the Jedi turned back to Ben. “Ah, yes, Ben, if you would, please. You can take care of this one. Just a memory reset, nothing more. I must go to set our coordinates and get the shuttle started before this storm rolls in.”

Ben nodded, and looked nervously at Hux. “You will return my uncle’s lightsaber,” he said.

Armitage understood what was going on here. Without giving himself away, he turned to retrieve the saber from the lockbox, fighting to keep the shake out of his hands as he pressed his palm on the electrical lock, triggering the door to swing open. His pulse was pounding hard in his ears, but through it he heard the Jedi walking away, back to his shuttle.

“Please tell me I wasn’t too late,” Ben whispered as the footsteps receded.

When he looked back up at Ben, he found him biting his lip, a pain in his eyes that indicated he had so much more to say, but couldn't, not now. Timidly, Ben held his hand out to take the saber and Hux extended it to him. As Ben wrapped his fingers around the saber's hilt, his fingertips brushed against Hux's. Armitage let his hand linger just a fraction of a second longer than necessary, just long enough to let him know he wasn't acting under any sort of magical hypnotism, that he understood, that he was grateful, even, before dropping his arm and standing at attention. Ben gave a massive sigh of relief.

“I’m not resetting your memory, Hux. I can’t. I won’t. I--”

 _I know_ , Armitage thought to Ben, shutting him up.

“Just go back to the radio tower and grant us permission to take-off, please,” he said. Armitage nodded silently.

Ben grabbed a fistful of the robes at his chest, presumably underneath which Hux’s dogtags lie against his breast, and took a few short steps backwards, not breaking eye contact until he had to turn to board the shuttle.

Heart in his throat, Hux went back to Tower Control.

The Jedi master’s voice came in over the radio receiver: “NT-55, calling from docking bay zero-four. Requesting clearance for routine take-off. Over.”

Pushing Kyyshiv out of his way, Armitage sat himself primly in the command chair and pushed the button to reply. Routine. Ha. Let the arsehole think he’s getting away with something. Ben will show him, one of these days. They both will. “Copy that, NT-55. This is Major Armitage Hux at Tower Control. Heavy wind blowing in from north-northeast, take corrective measures as you go ahead with the launch sequence. Over.”

“Roger that, Major Hux. NT-55 preparing for take-off.”

Armitage watched as the shuttle shuddered to life and began to levitate, turning slowly from its docked position. Chest already aching with longing, he pushed the button: “NT-55, you are cleared for take-off. Over.”

“Copy that. Over and out.”

“Safe travels,” Armitage said quietly, mostly to himself-- he hadn’t pushed the transmitter button. He snatched his cigarra case and lighter from the work station. Standing, he went to the door and pushed it open, walking onto the tower’s balcony to watch as the Jedi’s shuttle rose steadily.

He lit a cigarra. As he did, a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, accompanied moments later by a crashing rumble of thunder. Armitage looked up. Rain broke from the clouds then, and the other cadets came rushing out onto the balcony, looking up and rejoicing. The first rains. Their time here was over. No one seemed to take any notice of the departing ship.

As the shuttle broke through the atmosphere, Armitage watched quietly, tasting Ben still when he licked his lips. The cool droplets hit his face and he smiled as they came down harder, thankful for the cover. He would hate to be seen showing emotion here, now. He took a drag and told himself it would be fine. Ben would come back to him, he was sure. It might take some time, but it would be worth the wait. Armitage had always heard that good things came to those who waited. But he’d always believed better things would come to those who went out and took them for themselves. And he had certainly done that with Ben.

In his pocket, his comm device buzzed.

Armitage Hux knew better than to ignore his third summons.

 

==

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who left kudos or comments... you guys are the only reason I sucked it up and finished this!  
> (and before anyone asks: no, i’m not writing a sequel to this. this was hard enough!!!)


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